Donald Trump on tariffs
The attitude of US President Donald Trump, who has dominated the world since coming to power, is now cooling down. The crisis of recession in the country has tarnished his dream of Make America Great Again. Therefore, Trump has announced a huge reduction in the tariffs imposed on agri products, which is expected to benefit Indian spice traders and tea producers. Trump has decided to reduce import duty on about 200 food, agriculture and farming related products. This decision has been taken amid increasing public concern about rising prices and trade disruptions in America.
The products included in the new list include black pepper, cloves, cumin, cardamom, turmeric, ginger, several varieties of tea, mango products and dry fruits like cashew nuts. India sent spices worth more than $500 million to America in 2024, while exports of tea and coffee were worth about $83 million. America bought cashews worth $843 million from around the world, of which about one-fifth went from India.
No discount on these products
However, this relief has not been provided to some of India’s highest earning agricultural products. Expensive exports like shrimp, other sea foods and basmati rice have been kept out of it. Additionally, the US is currently imposing a hefty 50% duty on Indian gems, jewelery and textile products as a major trade agreement is still pending. Trump has linked this to India reducing purchases of Russian oil and increasing purchases of American energy. Overall, this exemption applies to India’s eligible agricultural exports worth about $1 billion.
There will be a profit of 491 million dollars!
According to Delhi officials, about 50 types of processed foods whose exports were worth about $491 million last year will get the most benefit. These include coffee and tea extracts, cocoa preparations, fruit juices, mango preparations and waxes made from plants. Spices worth $359 million will also be big beneficiaries. They will also benefit
These businessmen will have fun
About 48 types of fruits and nuts, such as coconut, guava, mango, cashew, banana, betel nut and pineapple, will also benefit, even though their total exports were only about $55 million. Overall, this new list accounts for about one-fifth of India’s agricultural exports of $5.7 billion and about 40% of its total merchandise exports of $86 billion last year.
An Indian official said that these cuts will provide a level playing field to these agricultural products, which till now had to pay higher duties compared to other countries. Reliable supply of our products, strong distribution network and demand from NRIs give us an edge in the US. This decision of Trump, which has been implemented through an executive order. This has come amid people’s anger over rising inflation in America. The Republican Party had suffered a major defeat in the recent by-elections because the Democrats had campaigned strongly on issues like inflation and expenditure. Seeing public anger over rising prices, Trump has said that he will give people relief checks of $ 2,000 from the earnings from tariffs and start investigating the meat processing industry.
Expenses have not increased – Trump
Trump claims that his tariff rules have not increased domestic spending. But American industry groups and policy experts have welcomed this step to reduce tariffs. His opponents accused him of ignoring the economic difficulties of the common people. One critic joked that my budget and my real life no longer match.
The debate over inflation and the economy escalated when Trump held a grand Gatsby-themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago and started building a huge ballroom, which is said to be bigger than the White House ballroom. Due to this, critics once again started raising the issue of ostentation and extravagance in the presidency.