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The US imposed 50% tariffs on Indian imports, straining ties between the two countries. India has reaffirmed its commitment to protect its interests.
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. (Piyush Goyal Office)
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal asserted that India will never bow down nor appear weak in the face of punitive tariff measures by the United States, adding that India’s export volume is on track to exceed last year’s despite extra duties.
US President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on India, including an additional 25% duty on the purchase of Russian oil, damaging relations between the two countries, billed as strategic partners over the recent decades. India has condemned the tariffs as “unfair and unreasonable”, citing the US and Europe’s own imports from Russia.
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Speaking at the curtainrRaiser event of Bharat Buildcon in Delhi, Goyal said, “We are always ready if anyone wants to have a free trade agreement with us. However, any form of discrimination affects the self-respect of India’s 140 crore Indians, and we will neither bow down nor ever appear weak. We will continue to move together and capture new markets.”
Goyal also expressed confidence that the recent trade agreements with various countries will help the Indian economy to grow. He also assured that the government will soon introduce various measures to expand the domestic outreach and boost exports.
“I can assure each one of you that in the days ahead, the government will be coming out with a variety of measures to support every sector, both to expand the domestic outreach and look for complementarities in other markets around the world to expand our global foray so that this year, our exports will exceed last year’s exports,” he said, adding that this year will define India’s self-confidence.
He also said India’s exports will be more than last year’s. India’s total exports touched an all-time high of $824.9 billion in the last fiscal, according to the data of the Ministry of Commerce. This was a growth of 6.01% over $778.1 billion of exports in 2023-24, which was a new milestone for India’s exports.
The government has set a target of $1 trillion of exports in the current financial year 2025-26. In July 2025, India’s overall exports stood at $68.25 billion, marking a growth from the same month of the previous year, which recorded $65.31 billion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed for self-reliance in response to Trump’s tariffs, and will meet Russian and Chinese presidents at the SCO Summit later this week, a meeting that will be closely watched by Trump. The PM has made it clear that the interests of farmers, livestock rearers and fishermen are the government’s top priority and will not be compromised.
About the Author
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More
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