New York's Indian restaurants lose flavour as tariffs bite

Operators face rising margin pressure as prices of key ingredients go up

- KATE KRADER & ARVELISSE BONILLA RAMOS

INDIAN RESTAURANTS HAVE been on a well-documented tear in New York City, outshining London’s, garnering chef awards and becoming a destination for Wall Street executives. Even butter chicken, a culinary cliche, has become one of the Big Apple’s most notable dishes. The South Asian wave has seemed unstoppable.

But on July 31, US President Donald Trump imposed additional tariffs on India, which went into effect on August 27, doubling the rate on most exports from the country to 50%.

Even as the legality of those tariffs is being debated before the Supreme Court, the impact has been tough on New York’s Indian food community. The price of products that define the cuisine, from spices and rice to pulses and tea, has risen, cutting into tight margins for restaurants as well as retailers. (And it’s a problem not everyone want to discuss because of the highly charged politics around the conversation.)