The United States has announced a major reduction in tariffs on Indian goods, with President Donald Trump confirming that India will now face an 18 per cent tariff instead of the previously proposed 25 per cent. A White House official further clarified that the additional punitive 25 per cent tariff imposed on India will be withdrawn entirely. As a result, India’s total tariff burden will drop from 50 per cent to 18 per cent. With this move, India joins a select group of countries that will be subject to lower US tariff rates.
Clearly, India managed a better deal than its neighbouring countries. In comparison, Pakistan will face a 19 per cent tariff. This comes despite continued lobbying efforts in Washington by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief General Asim Munir, which appear to have yielded limited results.
Pakistanis React On Diplomatic Failure
"Donald Trump has treated Field Marshal like that mistress who makes her lover do all the illegal and dirty work, and when the time comes to give or take something, she says I am compelled to obey my family's decision, forget me. My body will remain my husband's, but my soul will always remain yours," posted a Pakistan-based X user Umar Ali. The message is paired with an AI-generated image showing Asim Munir holding a box of rare minerals, set against an India Today cover featuring PM Modi alongside Trump
Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) minister Hammad Azhar took to X to criticise Pakistan's approach to diplomacy.
"Foreign policy in the 21st century isn't about optics or personal relationships. It's about leveraging economic strength, tariffs, and market access. India's recent trade deals with the EU and the US prove the point. Sycophancy and photo ops are useless," Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) minister Hammad Azhar posted on X.
"The 'Salesman-in-Chief' strategy has failed. You can give away Balochistan's minerals in wooden boxes, but you cannot buy respect," Journalist Imran Riaz Khan wrote in a more scathing assessment.
Echoing similar criticism, digital creator Wajahat Khan also weighed in on the tariff outcome. He wrote, "Trump is a businessman. He saw a manager and a shopkeeper and gave them a shopkeeper's deal. India came as a partner and walked away with the 18 per cent prize. This is the cost of having a government without the backbone of a public mandate."
The Indian economy is expected to get a major boost following two successive trade agreements with the European Union and the United States. One agreement, described as the "mother of all trade deals", and another that reduces US tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent, are expected to together generate USD 150 billion in exports during the next 10 years.