Indian exporters welcome tariff reprieve, but deal with US stirs unease for others

FILE PHOTO: Workers on the production line at the Matrix Clothing Pvt Ltd. factory in Gurugram, India, on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. The tariff cuts are expected to make India’s exports in labour-intensive sectors like textiles and seafood marginally more competitive in the US market compared with countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh, which both face a 20 per cent duty. - Bloomberg

NEW DELHI: Indian exporters expressed relief after US President Donald Trump announced a sharp tariff reduction on Indian goods, even as the deal triggered political controversy domestically over whether India had conceded far too much on ties with Russia and oil imports.

Trump announced on Feb 2 that the United States would reduce the tariff on Indian goods from 50 per cent, among the highest imposed on any country, to 18 per cent.