Coping with 50% tariffs

The grim situation demands a strong policy support for the affected MSMEs

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Eyes are on August 27 when US President Donald Trump's secondary sanctions of 25%—besides the 25% reciprocal tariffs already in effect from August 7—on Indian goods for importing Russian oil will kick in. Despite the peace talks in Alaska between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the 42-month-long conflict between Moscow and Kyiv, Russia still has not committed to bilateral talks with Ukraine. For such reasons, the pressure of secondary sanctions might remain. On Friday, Peter Navarro, the White House counsellor for trade and manufacturing, called India "Maharaja of tariffs" and "a laundromat for the Kremlin" by purchasing discounted Russian crude oil, refining it, and selling the products at a premium globally. India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar reiterated the country's stance in Moscow that India is perplexed by the logic of the US's decision to impose additional 25% tariffs as it was the previous Biden administration that wanted India to buy such oil to stabilise world energy markets. Once the 50% tariffs come into effe