Source: The post India recalibrates strategy amid U.S. tariffs and multipolarity pressures has been created, based on the article “Trump’s tariff war as opportunity for the Global South” published in “The Hindu ” on 5 September 2025. India Recalibrates Strategy amid U.S. Tariffs And Multipolarity Pressures.
UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2- Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.
Context: A layered economic, geopolitical, and technological polycrisis drives disruptive U.S. actions. India must reassess assumptions, protect interests, and pursue a fairer order through strategic recalibration.
For detailed information on India’s Trade Resilience amid US Tariff Pressures read this article here
What drives Mr. Trump’s economic warfare?
- Populist grievance, not structural reform: He courts a “silent majority” that feels cheated by globalisation’s capital accumulation, cheap labour, environmental colonisation, and trickle-down economics. He responds with xenophobic, racist, centrifugal politics instead of redesigning economic paradigms.
2. Assault on liberal norms and mobility: Sanctions on 30+ nations and tariffs on ~70 restrict free movement. Trade blocs, weaker treaties, aid cuts, and immigration curbs advance a pursuit of sovereign self-interest.
3. Super-tax logic and coercion: Goldman Sachs estimates 70% of tariff costs fall on U.S. firms and consumers. Tariffs are used to extort nations and companies and project power.
How is U.S. power being repositioned?
- Bolstering economic primacy: The U.S. forms 26% of global GDP; China is 17%; the G-7 is 20%–22% combined. Washington subsidises agriculture, pursues unilateral industry-tech-climate policies, demands investment pledges, and shields the dollar, curbing alternatives.
2. Protectionist hypocrisy with sectoral pain: The U.S. pressures India to drop farm protections while keeping 350%tariffs on tobacco, 200% on dairy, and 120% on fruits. India’s textiles, jewellery and gems, auto components, and metals are hit by barriers.
3. Security overlay on China: Tariffs include provisions to check China’s strategic influence and further U.S. security goals. A Washington Post report cites a “supplemental negotiation objectives” memo.
Where does this leave India–U.S. ties?
- Eroded convergence assumptions: Washington renews vows to Pakistan, seeks re-hyphenation, may skip the India-hosted Quad Summit, and inhibits manufacturing and advanced technology collaboration in India.
2. Compelled tactical concessions: To avoid a two-front problem, India has made major concessions to China without reciprocity. Northern borders stay live fault-lines that require deterrence and careful management.
3. Bipartisan momentum against China: Tariff weaponisation is Trumpian, yet reversing deindustrialisation and checking China enjoys bipartisan support. Ukraine-linked penalties continue despite a U.S.–Russia meeting.
What strategic course should New Delhi adopt now?
- Confront coercion with leverage: The U.S. has not levied tariffs on China despite a $295-billion deficit, partly due to Chinese control over rare metals and magnets vital to U.S. defence. India should not repeat compliance that stopped Iran and Venezuela oil and waived 11% cotton duty.
2. Recalibrate foreign-policy style: Personalised diplomacy, diaspora spectacles, and acronym politics did not advance interests. Attempts to ingratiate right-wing influencers misread support and diluted multi-alignment.
3. Manage neighbourhood risks: Policy choices bound China and Pakistan into an “iron-clad alliance” and isolated India in its neighbourhood. Indian wealth-creators face punitive tariffs, and American-Indians face racism.
How can India use the polycrisis to shape a fairer order?
- Champion multipolarity and a New Economic Deal: India should advance multipolarity against uni- or bipolarity and push an equitable framework. This follows neoliberal globalisation’s failures, weak multilateralism, concentrated power and wealth, forced tax cuts, and sovereign debts that shrink fiscal space.
2. Fix structural weaknesses at home: Manufacturing is at a four-decade low; unemployment is high; private investment is stagnant; research is abysmal; and PSUs are not redeployed strategically. The government must restore trust, ensure equitable growth, and set a bold new vision.
3. Forge durable coalitions: Leaders should eschew transactionalism and invest in relationships within and outside government. India should build bipartisan consensus domestically and with the Global South before the U.S. mid-terms next year.
Question for practice:
Examine how U.S. tariff and sanctions policies under President Trump are shaping India’s economy and foreign policy.
