A day after US President Donald Trump on Monday issued a fresh tariff threat against India, among other countries, the White House, in a statement following Trump’s phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that Trump had emphasised the importance of India “increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment” and moving towards a “fair” bilateral trading relationship. The marked shift in American trade policy under Trump, which increasingly aims to seek “reciprocal” market access in both developed and developing nations alike, could leave India’s top goods exports to the US—pharmaceutical products, gems and jewellery, and marine products—particularly vulnerable to tariffs under the second Trump administration. During his first term, Trump had targeted Indian steel and aluminium exports. That aside, there is a risk of an across-the-board tariff on all items entering the US, which could hit overall demand for imported goods in the country.
