‘Vishwaguru’ silent on Trump tariff, welcomes passage of Waqf (Amendment) Bill

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was missing from both the Houses of Parliament during the debate on the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, took to X on Friday, 4 April, to welcome its passage. It is a “watershed moment”, the PM stated, and added that it will “particularly help those who have long remained on the margins, thus being denied both voice and opportunity”.

The PM has been conspicuously silent on the tariffs announced by US president Trump on Thursday, 3 April, which threaten to disrupt world trade and trigger a trade war. Even as capital market indices plunged across the world, India’s response has been tepid and non-committal.

An official statement issued on Thursday (3 April 2025) merely stated that the commerce ministry is “carefully examining the implications of the various measures”, adding that it is engaged with all stakeholders, including Indian industry and exporters, to assess the impact of the tariffs.

It also said that it was studying “opportunities that may arise due to this new development”. India’s comments were in contrast to other US trading partners who had been slapped with tariffs.

The European Union, China and Canada threatened that there would be “countermeasures”, while Japanese trade minister Yoji Muto called the reciprocal tariffs “extremely regrettable” and South Korea’s acting president Han Duck-Soo ordered support for the country’s domestic auto industry, among the worst affected.

It was left to the RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) to point out that Donald Trump’s proposed new tariffs, kicking in on 5 and 9 April 2025, are tantamount to a total disregard of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Sangh Parivar’s economic wing said that India should follow other nations and “dump” the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

SJM economist and co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan told the Hindu that India has paid a heavy cost for complying with these international agreements that the US now seems to be discarding.

While Mahajan felt that it was unlikely that the Indian government would raise tariffs on US imports, he exhorted the Indian government to protect India’s agriculture and dairy sectors.

It is an open secret that the US wants access to India for its farm and dairy products.

Following retaliatory tariffs imposed by China on American corn and soybean, there is even greater urgency for the US to export the surplus produce to India.

All eyes are on India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal, who is engaged in difficult negotiations with Americans who are anxious to sew up a bilateral trade deal with India in the next few months.

Agriculture and dairy are key sectors being eyed by the Americans. It remains to be seen whether India caves in or digs its heel in to protect its vulnerable agriculture and dairy sectors.

The Americans are learnt to have bluntly told New Delhi that if a favourable agreement is finalised by ‘fall’, President Trump may accept the invitation to visit India.

In any case India’s muted response is conspicuous and even embarrassing, causing concerns among agriculture experts.