{"id":226230,"date":"2025-09-14T13:23:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T13:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/226230\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T13:23:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T13:23:28","slug":"indian-american-communities-and-businesses-grapple-with-trumps-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/226230\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian American communities and businesses grapple with Trump’s tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

American small businesses that rely on goods from India are feeling the strain after President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on imports from the nation.<\/p>\n

From restaurants to clothing shops, owners say U.S. trade policy is reshaping their bottom line in ways they can\u2019t control. Their options are limited: absorb the costs, raise prices and risk losing customers, or cut back on <\/strong>traditions that make their businesses unique.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration recently doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50% as a punishment for Indian purchases of Russian oil, which Trump says is helping support Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The Indian government has called<\/a> the tariffs \u201cunfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.\u201d Just days after the tariffs went into effect, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Putin held a trilateral meeting, <\/strong>and some analysts say India\u2019s alignment with Russia and China makes Washington\u2019s tariff push riskier and complicates U.S.-India relations.<\/p>\n

The geopolitical considerations come alongside very real economic consequences for some businesses in the U.S.<\/p>\n

At All India Cafe, a family-run restaurant chain in Southern California, the price of importing the authentic Indian spices and liquor that define the menu has \u201calmost doubled.\u201d Owner Pawandeep Kaur <\/strong>Khinda, whose parents emigrated from India to open their first Pasadena location in 1996, is weighing whether to raise menu prices, cut staff hours or even shutter the business.<\/p>\n

\"HarsimranHarsimran Singh, Santokh Singh Khinda and Pawandeep Kaur Khinda outside All India Cafe\u2019s Arcadia, Calif., location.Pawandeep Kaur Khinda<\/p>\n

She knows absorbing the costs cannot last. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to have to start raising prices in a week or two. \u2026 I don\u2019t want to have to close my doors down, because this is my bread and butter,\u201d Khinda said.<\/p>\n

Her restaurant has survived other downturns, she said, but this feels different.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it was easier to survive during Covid than it is to survive now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Unlike larger chains, Khinda says, small family businesses can\u2019t afford to stockpile supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like the government wants the bigger fish to stay and the smaller fish to go away,\u201d Khinda said.<\/p>\n

For Khinda, the tariffs threaten nearly three decades of family tradition. The thought of closing one of her locations \u201cdoes cross her mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we have bills to pay,\u201d Khinda said. \u201cI have employees to pay. I have a family to run. If I\u2019m not taking any profits home, how much longer can I keep doing this?\u201d<\/p>\n

India counts the U.S. as its single largest export partner, and Indian goods exported to the U.S. totaled $87 billion in 2024<\/a>, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. (India\u2019s massive pharmaceutical and electronics sectors are exempted from the tariffs.)<\/p>\n

The textile and garment industry is the third-largest employer in India, employing about 45 million<\/a> people throughout the country. In Artesia, California, home to a bustling Little India neighborhood, tariffs have \u201cshaken\u201d the community, according to Heeral Mehta, who runs Sari Palace, an Indian clothing boutique.<\/p>\n

Mehta said she is already bracing for the possibility of shutting down her store. On a recent shipment of 200 bridal outfits, she said she paid $62,000 in tariffs.<\/p>\n

\"SariSari Palace in Artesia, Calif.Heeral Mehta<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t paid myself all year because it\u2019s all gone toward tariffs,\u201d Mehta said.<\/p>\n

Mehta says trying to manufacture Indian clothing in the same capacity in the U.S. is \u201cimpossible,\u201d as hand embroidery is a deep-rooted generational craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf store owners are going to start increasing their prices, people are going to start going to India to shop,\u201d Mehta said. \u201cSo it\u2019s actually doing the reverse of what this is meant to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sumeer Kaur, founder of Lashkaraa, launched her clothing company at 19 with just $1,200. Now, 11 years later, she employs 600 people in India. Each morning, she wakes up hoping to hear news of a trade agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna monitor the next three to four months and then beyond that, if there\u2019s nothing like a trade deal reached, [if] we still have crazy tariffs for India, at that point we may introduce a standard tariff charge per order,\u201d Kaur said.<\/p>\n

Back in India, the consequences are already visible. In Surat, known as the \u201ctextile capital of India,\u201d Kaur says local mills are running at half capacity, despite it being the busiest season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not as busy this year. It\u2019s very dead,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I feel like, in some ways, it\u2019s even more dead than Covid right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re registered in the United States. We\u2019re paying taxes in the United States. Our customers are paying sales tax in the United States. If our revenue is getting less, then so are our taxes,\u201d Kaur said. \u201cEither your business or the consumer is paying this tariff. So it\u2019s like, I don\u2019t see how this is benefiting anyone at all right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2017, Michelle Ranavat founded Ranavat, a skin care and hair care brand inspired by ancient Indian beauty rituals. Her formulas depend on ingredients sourced from family farms in Kashmir, including hand-harvested saffron. For her, authenticity is nonnegotiable, and shifting production outside India is not realistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the knowledge, the resources that they have there, the machinery, the process, the proximity to the ingredients,\u201d Ranavat said.<\/p>\n

\"SaffronSaffron harvested by a local farmer for Ranavat in Kashmir.RANAVAT<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has advocated for tariffs as a way to push companies to manufacture in the U.S. Ranavat noted, though, that she operates a team in California that handles quality checks, filling and overhead. If costs continue to rise, she would have to cut those U.S. jobs first.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think that this is all like a tax on the country, so India is going to suffer. But \u2026 it\u2019s the American consumer that\u2019s footing the bill,\u201d Ranavat said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a blanket statement around being able to move things here doesn\u2019t apply when we want to experience other cultures authentically,\u201d Ranavat said, adding: \u201cThat difference is going to be borne by the consumer at the end of the day, or it may make some of these businesses that are rooted in culture and tradition less attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viral and Avani Modi Sarkar, siblings who co-founded Modi Toys in 2018, face similar uncertainty. Their company, which sells culturally significant toys, books and gifts rooted in Hindu faith and South Asian culture, is relying on existing inventory while it operates in \u201cwait and see mode.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ModiModi Toys products being manufactured in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.Courtesy Viral Modi and Avani Modi Sarkar<\/p>\n

Viral Modi told NBC News the impact of the tariffs has been \u201csevere,\u201d especially as the holiday season, the company\u2019s main revenue driver, approaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unpredictability of tariff rates makes planning nearly impossible,\u201d Modi said.<\/p>\n

Satyajit Hange, who co-founded Two Brothers Organic Farms, an organic farm and clean food startup selling traditional food products, sweeteners, snacks and spices to the Indian diaspora, says the tariffs have disrupted demand. The farm, which started with 32 acres, now works with more than 3,000 farmers across 4,500 acres in India.<\/p>\n

U.S. consumers account for about 15% to 20% of Hange\u2019s revenue, but the tariffs have discouraged many from buying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a 70% to 80% fall in demand right now, because I think even people have stocked up, and we are seeing that the carts at checkouts are being dropped by consumers, because that is where the tariffs get applied,\u201d Hange said.<\/p>\n

Like the others, Hange stresses that replicating his products in the U.S. is impossible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re catering to mainly Indians out there who have eaten this kind of food for generations. So they have no other alternative,\u201d Hange said, adding: \u201cThis food gives them a sense of nostalgia, a connection to their tradition, culture. And sadly, they will be missing it if they can\u2019t afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American small businesses that rely on goods from India are feeling the strain after President Donald Trump imposed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":226231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-226230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115202871073366053","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226230","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=226230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}