{"id":186795,"date":"2025-08-30T08:04:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T08:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/186795\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T08:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T08:04:13","slug":"how-trumps-america-first-tariffs-puts-make-in-india-and-millions-of-livelihoods-on-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/186795\/","title":{"rendered":"How Trump\u2019s \u2018America First\u2019 tariffs puts \u2018Make in India\u2019 and millions of livelihoods on the line"},"content":{"rendered":"

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New Delhi
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Two decades ago, Jinul Abedeen left his family and moved to India\u2019s<\/a> capital where he spent a year learning Zardozi, an ancient and intricate threadwork technique he hoped would equip him to support his family for decades to come.\n <\/p>\n

\n The gamble succeeded. He landed a job at Orient Craft, a major garment factory on the outskirts of New Delhi that supplies global brands like Gap, Ralph Lauren, and American Eagle. For 12 years, he has created pieces destined for clothing racks 8,000 miles away in the United States.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is a true skill,\u201d he said, recalling that year spent learning his craft when he lived on his meagre savings, as his needle moved across a sheer piece of fabric to form a flower petal. \u201cOtherwise, it would not take a year to learn.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Now, that hard-won livelihood, is threatened by a force beyond his control.\n <\/p>\n

\n On Wednesday, the White House imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods \u2013 some of the highest the US has imposed on any of its trade partners <\/strong>in what is already a historic global trade war \u2013 threatening to decimate business that depends on Indian exports like textiles, diamonds, steel and automobiles\n <\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

Trump tariffs threaten livelihoods in India\n <\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

Trump tariffs threaten livelihoods in India<\/p>\n

1:47 <\/p>\n

\n Half of the 50% levies are Donald Trump\u2019s punishment for India\u2019s ramped-up purchases of Russian oil following Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. The other half are part of Trump\u2019s signature \u201cAmerican First\u201d campaign to reduce US trade deficits \u2013 in the case with India, $45.7 billion in 2024<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n Both are clashing with the \u201cMake in India\u201d dream of fellow populist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who envisions turning his country into a manufacturing powerhouse to power economic growth and lift millions out of poverty.\n <\/p>\n

\n As India\u2019s biggest export market, the US is \u2013 or at least was \u2013 a big part of that dream.\n <\/p>\n

\n On the floor of Orient Craft, which exports about 82% of its products to the US, gloom is settling in.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt has caused a lot of difficulties, and the company is in trouble,\u201d Abedeen said. \u201cIf the company is in trouble, we are in trouble. If the country is in trouble, we are in trouble.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s a problem Modi can\u2019t afford, with tens of millions of young people already struggling to enter the job market in the world\u2019s fastest growing major economy.\n <\/p>\n

\n Neeraj Pandey has been at the factory for 22 years. From his modest monthly income of about $205, he has funded his daughter\u2019s MBA and his son\u2019s master\u2019s degree. But the new tariffs threaten to unravel his life.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe could lose everything,\u201d he said. \u201cOur employment will be gone.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n For Sumitra Devi, working at Orient Craft\u2019s factory in the neighboring state of Jharkhand was more than a job. \u201cWomen from my village don\u2019t usually work. I was a housewife,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Her factory earnings changed everything. She put her children through private school, and now her elder daughter dreams of becoming an engineer. For Devi, a school dropout, this is a \u201cmatter of pride.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Now, she fears that new tariffs could erase it all.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cMy husband\u2019s salary isn\u2019t enough,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I lose my job, the girls will have to go back to a government school\u2026 and my daughters are so proud. They say, \u2018Look, my mother works.\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Pandey and Devi\u2019s stories cut to the heart of a grand national ambition: Modi\u2019s \u201cMake in India,\u201d a strategy built on making goods domestically to sell to the world.\n <\/p>\n

\n Launched in 2014, this flagship program is central to the Indian leader\u2019s political brand, built on promises of national pride and future greatness for the nation of 1.4 billion. The government has poured more than $26 billion<\/a> into incentives for sectors like apparel, to reduce India\u2019s reliance on imports and create a manufacturing powerhouse.\n <\/p>\n

\n While there have been shortfalls \u2013 manufacturing\u2019s share of GDP is stalled at 17%<\/a> \u2013 it has undeniably elevated India on the world stage, offering a real alternative to China for some investors and consumer brands.\n <\/p>\n

\n Orient Craft\u2019s owner, Sudhir Dhingra, called this period \u201cvery challenging.\u201d Some orders from American buyers have already been put on hold, he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Hemant Makhija, who heads the fabrics department at Orient Craft, estimates some 20 million workers at cotton mills across India could be out of a job.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cMills across the national capital region are already operating at 50% capacity despite this being peak season,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ajay Srivastava, a former trade official who runs New Delhi\u2019s Global Trade Research Initiative, predicts the levies will hit export hubs hard, with US orders worth $5.4 billion likely to plummet by 60% to 90%.\n <\/p>\n

\n For Dhingra, the human cost is the most alarming part.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s very painful (for the workers) to sustain their families,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is worse than Covid.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The western city of Surat is the epicenter of the global diamond industry, a massive processing hub, where skilled artisans handle about 90% of the world\u2019s rough diamonds, polishing them to make them ready for the global market.\n <\/p>\n

\n The sector, which employs about 5 million people nationwide, contributes about 7% of the country\u2019s GDP, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe US remains highly dependent on Indian diamonds,\u201d said Jayantibhai Savaliya, regional chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council in India. \u201cAny slowdown will have a 100% impact, potentially leading to job losses and salary cuts.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Employees<\/p>\n

\n While recent shipments provide a temporary buffer, he expects exports to decline significantly over the next eight months, calling the situation a \u201cwake-up call\u201d for the industry to diversify its markets.\n <\/p>\n

\n Under his turbocharged \u201cAmerica First\u201d foreign policy, Trump has prioritized his own national interests, economic self-sufficiency, and sovereignty \u2013 much like Modi, his nationalist counterpart in New Delhi.\n <\/p>\n

\n The position seeks to reshore manufacturing to the US. But in doing so, it could sacrifice Washington\u2019s long-standing courtship of New Delhi as a vital counterweight to China\u2019s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.\n <\/p>\n

\n The primary source of friction is the US trade deficit with India, which has widened significantly over the last decade, even as bilateral trade has roughly doubled.\n <\/p>\n

\n The US was India\u2019s largest trade partner as of 2024, yet India ranked tenth in the list of US trading partners for the same year. The bilateral trade between the US and the world\u2019s most populous nation was $129.2 billion in 2024, a record for the partnership.\n <\/p>\n

\n The high levies could effectively erase India from the US in some key markets like garments, Srivastava, from the Global Trade Research Initiative, said.\n <\/p>\n

\n It \u201cmakes Indian garments uncompetitive against Vietnam\u2019s 20% and China\u2019s 42%,\u201d he added, \u201cleaving little chance to retain US buyers.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Still, he noted while tariffs will hurt export-heavy sectors like apparel, textiles, jewelry and seafood, these form about 20% of India\u2019s GDP \u2013 with US exports counting for a fifth of that.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cStrong domestic demand, 6\u20137% growth, and ongoing reforms\u2026 will cushion the impact, preventing a systemic crisis,\u201d Srivastava said, adding: \u201cIndia may face short-term pain, but its vast domestic market will cushion the blow, enabling a quick rebound.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \ufeffThe anxiety has nevertheless made Dhingra from Orient Craft begin to think of alternatives.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cRussia is an unexplored market. I would say parts of Europe, we could grab business there? We could also go to South America, which we have not done,\u201d he said. \u201cBut my worry is that it (the tariffs) will leave a very deep scar in the Indo-American relationship.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n While many nations have rushed to strike trade deals with Trump to lower tariffs, Modi has been less willing to cave.\n <\/p>\n

\n New Delhi called the tariffs \u201cunfair\u201d and \u201cunjustified,\u201d pointing out the hypocrisy of Trump\u2019s move, noting that the US and Europe still buy Russian fertilizers and chemicals.\n <\/p>\n

\n Earlier this month Modi said India \u201cwill never compromise on the interests of farmers, fishermen and dairy farmers.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI know personally, I will have to pay a heavy price for it, but I am ready for it,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n

\"India's<\/p>\n

\n To mitigate the impact, the government has announced some countermeasures, including suspending import duties on raw materials and accelerating trade talks to diversify export markets.\n <\/p>\n

\n But for regular factory workers, this means little.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf my job goes away, I have no other work. I don\u2019t know how to do anything else,\u201d Pandey said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf they can come to a compromise, that would be better. If not, what can we do?\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Facebook Tweet Email Link New Delhi \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Two decades ago, Jinul Abedeen left his family and moved to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":186796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[64,79,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-186795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115116681851962345","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}