Business Today 31 August 2025

Donald Trump has built much of his political persona on the “art of the deal.” Yet, in his dealings with India, the US President appears to have mistaken India’s quiet resolve for weakness—a miscalculation fraught with consequences for the broader US-India relationship, not just bilateral trade. While most nations, save China, have at some point bent to Trump’s tariff diktats, India is holding its ground. The European Union, Britain, Japan—even corporate America with its trillion-dollar balance sheets—have all played along, offering tribute to the “Emperor of Washington, D.C.” Even a bankrupt country like Pakistan is offering the mineral riches of Balochistan to ingratiate itself with Trump. New Delhi’s approach has been markedly different. From the outset, India resisted provocation, focusing on substance rather than theatre. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and…

THE US HAS IMPOSED THE HIGHEST TARIFFS ON INDIA AMONG THE TOP 10 COUNTRIES WITH WHICH IT HAS A TRADE DEFICIT SOURCE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE, TRADE MAP, RUBIX BILATERAL TRADE INDIA’S TOTAL TRADE WITH THE US HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED IN THE PAST 10 YEARS SOURCE CMIE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK WHAT INDIA SELLS ELECTRONIC GOODS, CHEMICAL & PHARMA, AND TEXTILES ACCOUNT FOR MORE THAN 46% OF INDIA’S EXPORTS TO US SOURCE CMIE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK WHAT INDIA BUYS PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, ENGINEERING GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 20% OF INDIA’S IMPORTS SOURCE CMIE THE IMPACT THE FURNITURE SEGMENT COULD FACE THE BIGGEST IMPACT CONSIDERING ITS EXPOSURE TO THE US MARKET SOURCE DGCI&S, USITC, GTRI 2.2% THE SHARE OF INDIA’S EXPORTS TO THE US AS PERCENTAGE OF GDP 0.4% THE POTENTIAL DIRECT IMPACT TO THE COUNTRY’S GDP FROM…

INDIA WAS ONE of the early movers on initiating trade talks with the US, soon after Donald Trump took over as President in January. But five rounds of negotiations later, it has been unable to clinch a trade deal with the US, and what’s worse, it now faces tariffs of 50%, including a 25% penalty from August 27 because of the purchase of crude oil from Russia. Faced with pressure from the US on opening sensitive sectors like agriculture and dairy, as well as scrutiny over Russian oil purchase, India has reiterated that it will protect its national interests while remaining hopeful of concluding a deal in the coming months. A REPORT BY GTRI SAYS EXPORTS THAT MAY PLUMMET BY 50-70% INCLUDE SHRIMPS, ORGANIC CHEMICALS, CARPETS, READYMADE GARMENTS For the…

THE PUNITIVE ADDITIONAL 25% tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on India will hurt a swathe of Indian businesses, with particularly devastating impact on small businesses. India’s merchandise exports to the US—India’s largest trading partner—were worth $87 billion last fiscal (FY25). Estimates suggest that about 70% of this trade is likely to be severely impacted due to the fresh tariffs, with only exports of pharmaceuticals, smartphones, and petroleum products exempt as of now. Exports to the US form a major share (greater than or equal to 5%) in India’s total export pie for more than 100 product categories. Small businesses will likely see a major impact, with sectors such as garments and textiles, gems & jewellery, leather and fisheries, already struggling to contain the damage. In the Surat diamond…

INDIA’S MACROECONOMIC DATAare set for an overhaul by early 2026. The reason? Updation of the base years of GDP, Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Index of Industrial Production (IIP), along with use of additional data sources. The Census exercise, slated to start next year, is also expected to provide critical data to India’s statistical system. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), says the new series GDP with a base year of FY23 will be released on February 27, 2026. “For calculating the GDP with revised base, the ministry is exploring enhanced use of data from various sources such as the goods and services tax data as well as tapping new data sources like E-Vahan portal and UPI transactions from the National Payments Corporation of India,” he tells…

It is a charged moment in the world economy, and India stands right at the heart of it. As the global trade order rewires and nations rethink their economic alliances, India’s commerce and trade policy has never been more consequential. At this high-stakes moment, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal joined BT at the India@100 event to help decode the new trade order and India’s strategic playbook for navigating it. Edited excerpts from an exclusive conversation with Siddharth Zarabi and Gaurav Sawant: SZ: At a time when global investors are very keenly looking at India, how are we shaping our engagement with the world? A: The world keeps evolving, international trade keeps finding new pathways. What we are seeing today is possibly just a churn that happens every few years.…