Lakhs of jobs in Tamil Nadu are at risk because of the impending threat of US tariffs on Indian goods rising to 50 per cent, chief minister M.K. Stalin said on Saturday, hours after Donald Trump in typical fashion left a question mark hanging over the penalty on Delhi for buying Russian oil.
“With US tariffs rising from 25% to a possible 50%, Tamil Nadu will be hit harder than most states as our exports are deeply tied to the US market. Lakhs of jobs in textiles, leather, auto, machinery and other sectors are at risk,” Stalin posted on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday afternoon.
“I have urged the Hon’ble PM Thiru. @NarendraModi to act swiftly by fixing GST on man-made fibres at 5%, removing duty on cotton imports, extending easy low-interest loans with moratorium, and enhancing export incentives and credit.
“Tamil Nadu will work closely with the Union Government to overcome this trade crisis,” he added.
The Telegraph Online has reported how several sectors in Bengal, including a bicycle manufacturer hoping to do business with Walmart, the tea industry and the gems and jewellery sector, are bracing for tough times ahead because if the tariff threat.
The Telegraph has also reported how lakhs of jobs are at risk in Surat, India’s diamond hub, because of Trump’s tariffs.
But will Trump’s secondary tariffs kick in?
Russia, the US President told Fox News in an interview onboard Air Force One en route to Alaska for his summit with Vladimir Putin, had “lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40 per cent of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot…And if I did what's called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I'll do it. Maybe I won't have to do it.”
He also said he did not immediately need to consider retaliatory tariffs on countries such as China for buying Russian oil, but might have to "in two or three weeks”.
However, according to global real-time data and analytics provider Kpler, as much as 38 per cent out of an estimated 5.2 million barrels per day of crude oil imported by India in the first half of August came from Russia, PTI reported on Friday.
