We get along with India very well: Trump

• Trump hails India ties while slapping on 50 per cent tariffs — happy talk meets tariff smackdown

• Modi vows to “bear pressure”, yet dithers on protecting exporters and workers

• Tariffs could cost India up to Rs 4 lakh crore in exports and endanger over 20 lakh jobs, while US companies and consumers also brace for blowback

US President Donald Trump is at it again — playing diplomat with one hand while swinging the tariff hammer with the other. At the White House, he gushes, “We get along with India very well,” only to turn around and accuse India of charging “tremendous tariffs”.

It’s the administrative equivalent of reassuring someone you're friends before shoving them off a cliff. The kicker? His government has just slapped India with 50 per cent tariffs — some of the steepest anywhere — a fine display of rhetorical dexterity meeting economic hypocrisy.

According to the Global Trade Research Initiative, India’s labour-intensive export sectors could see a 70 per cent drop in exports to the US, reducing total Indian shipments by 43 per cent, and putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk.

Meanwhile, sectors like jewellery, handicrafts, garments face a potential loss of up to 1 million jobs. In Surat’s diamond hub, 50,000 workers are already unemployed, with another 100,000 potentially facing the axe. Exporters estimate the tariffs threaten about 55 per cent of India’s $87 billion exports to the US, risking up to 2 million jobs across states, including Modi’s own Gujarat.

Let’s call a spade a spade: in Trump’s world, diplomatic niceties exist to soften the blow of economic wreckage. Asked on Tuesday if he’d consider rolling back tariffs, he sweetly said, “No, we get along with India very well,” then dropped the bombshell. The doublespeak is breathtaking — America First rhetoric wrapped in a veneer of friendship.

And what of Modi? He declared (in grand Independence Day oratory), “We cannot compromise on farmers and small industries,” and vowed “we will bear it”. But 'bearing it' doesn’t fix supply chains or cover salaries. The Modi administration has been painfully slow in rolling out contingency measures — export reliefs, stimulus or alternative market access remain plodding at best. His atmanirbhar (self-sufficient) Bharat dreams now look like a waiting game for painful self-harm.

Let’s translate the damage into Indian numbering — because people need to see the scale:

Exports at risk: Rs 4 lakh crore (approx.), hitting livelihoods across textiles, gems, furniture.

Job losses: Potentially 20 lakh jobs in peril (Surat, garment hubs, seafood, handicrafts).

GDP impact: Analysts estimate a 0.2–0.5 per cent hit to GDP, or even up to 1 per cent projected.

This turmoil won’t stop at India’s borders. US companies sourcing from India — be it textiles, leather, pharma, or tech exports — will feel the shock. Ultimately, US consumers could pay more, not less. It’s the domestic blowback Trump conveniently ignores in his global tariff free-for-all.

Meanwhile, Modi’s response amounts to a spectator sport. He frames the crisis as one India must simply “grit through”, without rolling out strong protections, urgent diversification of markets, or transparent support for affected workers and SMEs. That’s not leadership — it’s spin sugar-coating a policy paralysis.

The $131.8 billion bilateral trade (Rs 11 lakh crore approximate) now teeters, sacrificed at the altar of Trump’s bombastic tariffs and Modi’s timid economic reflexes. If there's one thing more absurd than Trump's economic mania, it's Modi watching helplessly as Indians bear the brunt — with little relief or remedy in sight.

With PTI inputs