US' new tariff list: India at 25%, exports to get hit, competitors in lower band
Effective August 7, 2025, the US has imposed a blanket 25% tariff on all Indian-origin goods, placing India among the most harshly treated nations in its new tariff regime. This measure, part of a new Executive Order, denies India product-level exemptions, even for critical sectors like pharmaceuticals and electronics.
Agencies US' new tariff list New Delhi: In a move that could dent India's exports to US, Washington has imposed a blanket 25% tariff on all Indian-origin goods, effective August 7, 2025.This measure, part of a new Executive Order issued by US President Donald Trump on July 31, places India among the most harshly treated countries in the new American tariff regime, offering no product-level exemptions even for sectors deemed critical like pharmaceuticals, energy, and electronics.The Order mentions that tariffs may be reduced once countries do a deal with the US.As per the order, countries have been subject to tariffs ranging from 10% to over 41% with differential rates based on geopolitical risk, economic alignment, and trade volume.Exporters said the new order puts India at disadvantage to majority competitors including Pakistan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Turkey where the tariffs are 15-20%.
'India's exports of petroleum products, smartphones, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, electronics, and textiles will bear the brunt of the tariffs,' said a representative of an export promotion organisation.The penalty threatened by Trump on India for doing business with Russia has not yet been announced.The US, Wednesday, announced 25% tariffs on India along with undisclosed penalty on trading with Russia.'The implications of the recent development are being examined by the government. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is engaged with all stakeholders including exporters and industry for taking feedback of their assessment of the situation,' commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said in his statement in Parliament Thursday.The US was India's largest export destination in FY25 with shipments valued at $86.51 billion. But it accounted for less than a fifth of its total goods exports of $437.42 billion.As per the Order, unlike many other trading partners, India has been denied all product-level exemptions—even for products and sectors, the US exempted Goods from other countries.These tariff exempted categories include finished pharmaceutical drugs, APIsand other key drug inputs; energy products, critical minerals and a wide range of electronics and semiconductors.The EU has been granted a special concession in which if the existing US most favoured nation (MFN) tariff on an EU product is below 15%, the total tariff will be increased to 15%. However, if the MFN tariff is already 15% or higher, then no additional duty will be charged.A 10% tariff applies to a few countries—Brazil, the UK, and the Falkland Islands.The 15% tariff, which is the most common, covers 38 countries. Countries facing higher tariffs (25-30%) include India, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Tunisia.Iraq and Serbia at 35%, Switzerland at 39% (unusually high for a developed nation), Laos and Myanmar at 40%, and Syria at 41%, the highest.The US Customs Border Protection authority will realise a guidance clarifying on how this measure will be applied.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
13 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Indian cloud companies to storm local skies with low-cost advantage
Synopsis Indian companies are competing in the cloud market. They offer local data storage and infrastructure. These firms aim to undercut global giants on cost. Airtel, Jio, Tata Communications, and Yotta are key players. They target the public sector and regulated industries. Experts note challenges in technology and migration. Hyperscalers like Microsoft and Amazon are also expanding in India. Agencies Indian corporates are building muscle to challenge bigger global rivals in the fast-growing cloud market, with offerings that store data applications and related infrastructure within the country, referred to as sovereign cloud. These homegrown firms are underlining lower costs as their biggest advantage against the foreign competitors. Bharti Airtel's Xtelify, Reliance's JioCloud for SMEs, Tata Communications' Vayu, and Yotta's Shakti are tailored for local enterprises, especially in public sector and other regulated industries. And they are aiming to take on hyperscalers Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform, positioning themselves as affordable and secure alternatives with cost savings of 30%-50% over the global giants. Hyperscalers are large cloud providers offering massive computing resources and infrastructure. However, factors such as limited technology depth, lack of ecosystem maturity, and high migration costs from the global cloud providers are limiting the ambitious growth plans of the Indian companies, say experts. They added that interoperability between cloud providers is almost non-existent, making migration costly and technically complex."The emergence of indigenous cloud platforms represents a market response to India's sovereign cloud policy framework, creating domestic alternatives for regulated sectors," said Jitesh Karlekar, director-research at real estate research and advisory firm JLL. "However, these nascent providers will need to rapidly build technical sophistication, security credentials, and operational scale to effectively compete with established global platforms." According to an IDC study, 15-20% of Indian companies are adopters of some sovereign cloud solution for ensuring compliance and security of their core applications and data. "Sovereign cloud is still in the early stages with little adoption in India," said Rajiv Ranjan, associate director, cloud and AI at research firm IDC India. "A key reason for not migrating to sovereign cloud could be higher costs and the risks associated with migrating applications which might be time consuming and cause business disruptions." He added that enterprises in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) space need to be also fully confident with adequate security and compliance norms being met with the domestic offerings. Meanwhile, hyperscalers have rapidly grown their footprint in India through pacts with mobile phone operators. In 2019, Microsoft signed a 10-year deal with telecom market leader Reliance Jio for co-development of affordable cloud-based solutions, particularly targeted towards SMEs and startups. For its free consumer cloud storage, Jio has netted over 35 million active users. A year later, second-ranked telco Bharti Airtel signed a deal with AWS to develop differentiated Airtel Cloud products. It also tied up with Google Cloud the same year to offer G-Suite services such as Gmail, and Google Docs to to a study by policy body Centre for Internet and Digital Economy, India's $8.3 billion cloud market revenue is dominated by international vendors, with Microsoft (27%) and AWS (15%) together having a 42% share, with all other competitors, including Salesforce and SAP, having shares of less than 5% each. In the pure infrastructure space, Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud have a combined 87% market share. Bharti Airtel on Monday launched its sovereign cloud, with its vice chairman, Gopal Vittal, stressing that the telco's offering will lead to cost savings of 30-40% over rivals due to its mix of network and cloud the Centre for Internet and Digital Economy study on the competitive landscape in the Indian cloud market showed new entrants are struggling to match the free cloud credits and startup support offered by global global companies provide large sums in cloud credits and access to accelerator programs, giving them a strong edge in customer acquisition, said industry experts. In contrast, local firms often restrict credits to a small circle of existing clients and face difficulty competing for cloud-native startups. However, Indian providers are attracting small and mid-sized businesses by offering 30-70% cost savings and greater billing transparency, areas where hyperscalers fall short due to complex pricing and poor cost visibility, the study showed. The global rivals with technical strength though are better equipped to forecast and manage cloud costs, offering better expense visibility to their clients, compared with their smaller rivals.
India.com
15 minutes ago
- India.com
RICH Alliance: Trump's Tariff War Backfires? Russia Backs India And Hints At Emerging Ties With China
While U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly stated that he will "substantially" increase tariffs on India, New Delhi has made it clear that it will not yield to pressure. Meanwhile, Russia has also pushed back against Washington's move. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once famously said, 'Being America's enemy may be dangerous, but being its friend is fatal.' That sentiment seems to be playing out in real time as the relationship between India and the US may be emerging into a diplomatic turning point. In today's DNA episode, Managing Editor of Zee News, Rahul Sinha, analysed a possible alliance between India, Russia, and China: Watch Full DNA Episode Here: #DNAWithRahulSinha | वर्ल्ड ऑर्डर बदला.. यूएस का 'दबदबा' गया! 'मिशन RICH'..ट्रंप के लिए कितना घातक?#DNA #India #USA #DonaldTrump #TarrifWar@RahulSinhaTV — Zee News (@ZeeNews) August 5, 2025 In a strong statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused the U.S. of using tariffs as a tool to dominate other nations. She said countries that chose a different path from Washington were being economically pressured and that Russia supports a multipolar and equitable world order. This, she added, is why Russia stands with India—and even with China—against America's hegemonic approach. Zakharova further claimed the U.S. is reacting out of frustration as it struggles to accept its diminishing influence in the new world order. According to her, tariffs and sanctions will not stop the shift toward a new global structure. Zakharova also suggested, a new alliance could be on the brink after the US' tariffs announcement. This emerging alignment between Russia, India, and China could reshape the global balance of power. The question now being asked: Has Donald Trump's aggressive trade policy inadvertently triggered the rise of a powerful R-I-C-H bloc? What Is 'RICH'? A new alliance named 'RICH'—short for Russia, India, and China—could pose an even greater challenge to the United States than the BRICS. The acronym itself, symbolizing 'wealth and prosperity,' hints at a formidable coalition. While Russia has previously called for stronger India-Russia-China cooperation, current global tensions and Trump's policies may make this partnership more realistic than ever before. 'RICH' vs America GDP Power: America has a GDP of US Donald 28 trillion (Rs. 23 lakh crore), but the combined GDP of Russia, India, and China is close behind at Rs. 21 lakh crore. Population Power: Together, India, China, and Russia are home to nearly 3 billion people—about 37 percent of the world's population—far surpassing the U.S., which has just 330 million people or 4 percent of the global total. Military Strength: The combined military strength of the three nations is 4.8 million troops, compared to America's 1.3 million. Even when factoring in NATO allies, the numbers still tilt heavily toward the RICH bloc. Nuclear Arsenal: RICH nations possess approximately 6,300 nuclear weapons, compared to America's 5,200. Defense Capabilities, Self-Sufficiency While the U.S. remains the world's largest arms producer, Russia and China also rank among the top global arms manufacturers. India, too, is rapidly advancing toward self-reliance in defense production. Together, the three countries could pose a significant challenge to NATO on land, at sea, and in the air. However, experts caution that military confrontation between global powers could have catastrophic consequences, making economic and diplomatic battles more likely. Notably, these countries are also resource-rich and largely self-sufficient: Energy: Russia holds vast reserves of oil, gas, and coal and is a major exporter of fossil fuels. India is advancing in nuclear and solar energy, while China leads globally in the manufacture of solar panels and wind turbines. Natural Resources: Russia has significant reserves of titanium, nickel, cobalt, and uranium. China accounts for over 60 percent of global rare earth metal production. India, meanwhile, is rich in bauxite, iron ore, graphite, and manganese. Agriculture: India is the world's largest producer of milk and pulses. Russia leads in wheat exports, while China excels in agricultural machinery and food production. In short, if united, these three nations would have little need for external support in energy, food, or defense. Strategic Shifts and Diplomatic Openings While deep mistrust exists between India and China, recent developments suggest that the gap may be narrowing. India's National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval is set to visit China this month, followed by a trip by External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar. These diplomatic engagements, possibly accelerated by Trump's confrontational tactics, may help bridge long-standing divides.
Economic Times
15 minutes ago
- Economic Times
India's antitrust play needs a rewrite
India's economy is undergoing a dramatic transformation. But its competition policy feels like a relic. While the world redesigns antitrust frameworks for the digital age, India continues to address 21st-c. monopolies with tools that belong to the typewriter risk is not simply about policy lag. It's about allowing the marketplace to evolve into something it was never meant to be - a moat for incumbents, rather than a playground for new ideas. There is something oddly theatrical about India's markets. A few giants now play every role - producer, distributor, seller and reviewer. If capitalism were a Bollywood film, we would be somewhere deep into the second act. The camera never pans away from the stars. The script is over-designed, the plot barely believable, and the supporting cast is left applauding from the wings. What this production lacks is direction. A strong antitrust regime should function as the off-stage hand that can stop the show when the ensemble is replaced by a with the illusion of choice. Consumers seem to have endless options. Multiple apps, brands and platforms. In reality, their decisions are quietly managed by default settings, recommendation engines and closed ecosystems. You think you are shopping around. You are actually walking a hallway with two doors, both leading to the same room. This isn't a marketplace of ideas. It's an orchestra conducted by a duopoly that writes both the score and the Competition Act of 2002 was well-intended. But it was born in a simpler time. It functions well in hindsight. It spots the corpse, but doesn't see the murder coming. In a world where algorithmic decisions are made in milliseconds, retrospective enforcement is like sending a telegram after a don't need more post-mortems. We need a pre-emptive immune system. One that stops dominance before it trouble is not confined to digital platforms. The same centralisation is quietly embedding itself into India's physical infrastructure. Ports, airports, fibre networks, toll roads, data centres - arteries of the economy are increasingly controlled by a select few. When a single group manages warehouse, gateway, fibre pipe and checkout, what you have is not a supply chain but a bottleneck with a business are left with the 'invisible tax of absence'. No second airport terminal, no rival broadband, no alternative toll road. Choice, in infrastructure, is not a feature. It is the foundation. And that foundation is steadily being the world, competition authorities have shifted focus. The EU's Digital Markets Act targets gatekeepers who control access to platforms and users. It forbids self-preferencing, demands data separation and insists on real interoperability. Britain followed with its 2024 legislation that empowers regulators to intervene before harm becomes US, traditionally more lenient, is catching up. Federal Trade Commission, under Lina Khan, has taken on Big Tech with a zeal not seen in decades. Lawsuits have replaced policy briefs, and default settings are now considered battlegrounds for competition. Even Japan and South Korea have started examining algorithmic bias and platform approach is more opaque, but no less firm. When its regulators bring down a tech giant, it's often swift and politically aligned. The message is simple: no company grows beyond the state's comfort is inching towards the future with its proposed Digital Competition Bill. The Bill seeks to impose obligations on 'systemically significant digital intermediaries', asking them to behave more like neutral infrastructure and less like landlords with a favourite tenant. No bundling. No unfair ranking. No quiet preference for in-house brands. It borrows from Brussels, adapts for Delhi, and if enforced well, it could make up for decades of policy without it, the market won't crash but congeal. Space for startups will shrink, funding will chase favour rather than innovation. The price of admission will no longer be a good idea but a good relationship with the policy is not a punishment for success. It's a safety net for fairness. It ensures that achievement does not calcify into entitlement. It reminds us that markets are not meant to be gated estates where old money and new data sit comfortably, sipping stands at a crucial fork. One road leads to genuine plurality - more products, platforms, participants. The other leads to a curated monopoly garden where every flower is owned, every bench reserved, and the public is welcome only on guided market is not your mother. It does not love you unconditionally. It will not hold your hand through failure, or clap for your potential. It'll reward dominance if no one stops it. And punish aspiration if no one protects it. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Can Coforge's ambition to lead the IT Industry become a reality? BlackRock returns, this time with Ambani. Will it be lucky second time? Amazon is making stealthy moves in healthcare, here's why! The trader who blew the whistle on Jane Street Stock Radar: Globus Spirits breaks out from 9-month consolidation; check target & stop loss for long positions Weekly Top Picks: These stocks scored 10 on 10 on Stock Reports Plus These large-caps have 'strong buy' & 'buy' recos and an upside potential of more than 25% Stock picks of the week: 5 stocks with consistent score improvement and upside potential of up to 36% in 1 year
