Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra, on Wednesday, said that the recent tariff measures announced by the United States are unlikely to
significantly impact the Indian economy in their current form. “We don’t see a major impact of the US tariff unless there is a retaliatory tariff,” he said, addressing concerns around global trade tensions. On August 1, Trump signed an Executive Order titled 'Further Modifying The Reciprocal Tariff Rates', raising tariffs for over five dozen countries, including a steep 25 per cent for India. Reiterating his warning on Tuesday, Trump announced plans to “substantially” raise tariffs on Indian imports within the next 24 hours. "India has not been a good trading partner because they do a lot of business with us, but we don't do business with them. So we settled on 25 per cent, but I think I'm going to raise that rate quite substantially in the next 24 hours," said Trump in a telephonic interview with CNBC. "They're buying Russian oil and fueling the war machine. And if they are going to do that, I'm not going to be happy," he added. Speaking on the Indian economy, Sanjay Malhotra said, "...Over the medium term, the Indian economy holds bright prospects in the changing world order, drawing on its inherent strengths." The Governor's remarks came days after Trump took a swipe at India and Russia by calling their economies “dead." Pushing back against Trump's warnings, India's Ministry of External Affairs had called targeting of New Delhi "unjustified and unreasonable". Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," the MEA had said.
