With the US President Donald Trump’s constantly-changing tariff announcements hanging like a sword of Damocles over Indian exporters’ heads, Indian think tank, Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), said on Saturday that the tariffs will undoubtedly hurt exporters’ profitability.
On May 30, Trump announced that he would double the existing 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from June 4, sending new waves of disappointment in the industry.
This hike comes under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962, a law that allows the president to impose tariffs or other trade restrictions if imports are deemed a threat to national security.
Trump originally invoked this provision in 2018 to set the 25 per cent tariff on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium. He raised tariffs on aluminium to 25 per cent in February 2025.
For India, the consequences are direct, GTRI said. In 2024-25, India exported USD 4.56 billion worth of iron, steel, and aluminium products to the US, with key categories, including USD 587.5 million in iron and steel, USD 3.1 billion in articles of iron or steel, and USD 860 million in aluminium and related articles.
“These exports are now exposed to sharply higher US tariffs, threatening the profitability of Indian producers and exporters,” the think tank’s founder, Ajay Srivastava, said.
In the meanwhile, India has already issued a formal notice at the World Trade Organization (WTO) signalling its intention to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods in response to the earlier steel tariffs.
“With Trump now doubling the tariffs, it remains to be seen whether India will carry out the retaliation by increasing tariffs on certain US exports within a month,” he said.
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