'Ready to pay heavy price:' Indian Premier Modi on Trump tariffs

ANKARA

Defiant in the face of higher US tariffs, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said he was ready to pay a "heavy price," vowing to "never compromise” on the interests of the nation’s people.

His reaction came a day after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff on India in response to its continued purchases of Russian oil.

With the new order, US tariffs on Indian imports climb to 50%, half of which go into effect starting Thursday.

"The welfare of our farmers is the highest priority,” Modi told an event in the capital New Delhi, adding that “India will never compromise on the interests of its farmers, livestock rearers, and fishermen."

“I know I will have to pay a heavy personal price for this. But I am ready for it,” Modi said.

New Delhi called Trump's steep new tariffs “extremely unfortunate” and his actions “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,”

Trump accuses New Delhi of profiting from the resale of Russian oil.

While India was among the first to initiate trade discussions with the US, the two sides have not reached a deal as New Delhi pushed back on granting access to its agricultural and dairy markets.

"Tariff agenda is at the core of Trump's policymaking. I don't think that there is anything additional when he is dealing with India. He wants to cut a favorable deal for the US with India. In a way, his general approach is quite transactional – give less and take more," Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, a senior research consultant at Chintan Research Foundation, New Delhi, told Anadolu.

Trade between the US and India exceeded $190 billion last year, yet the US runs a trade deficit of around $45 billion with India.