Would Trump tariff threat make any difference to India's strategic autonomy? Manish Tewari answers

Hours after US President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff and an unspecified penalty on Indian imports, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the move would not shake India's long-standing strategic autonomy. Framing the escalation as a tribute to India's "strategic exceptionalism," Tewari wrote on X, "Would Trump's tariff threat make any difference to the strategic autonomy that we have built up over the decades and across different dispensations and administration’s — NOT REALLY."

US President Donald Trump has announced a 25% tariff, along with an unspecified penalty, on Indian imports, citing New Delhi's continued defence and energy engagement with Russia. "India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25%, plus a penalty for the above, starting on August first,” Trump wrote in a post. He also slammed India’s trade practices, calling them “among the highest in the world” and accused India of maintaining “strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers."

Responding to this escalation, Tewari placed it in a larger historical and strategic context. "Donald Trump has perhaps given the biggest tribute to Indian strategic exceptionalism and strategic autonomy now stretching back to 1947. The Policy of Non alignment that was put in place by India's first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru now called multi alignment and self reliance put in place by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi now called Atam Nirbhar Bharat are the strategic continuums that provides the Indian state with the flexibility to engage with the world on its own terms and in its best national interest," he wrote.

He added that while the move may not affect India's long-standing policy autonomy, it could still "perhaps" strain the fabric of Indo-US engagement.

Meanwhile, India has taken a hardened stance in the ongoing trade negotiations. New Delhi has consistently resisted US pressure to open up its agricultural and dairy markets-particularly to genetically modified crops and US-origin dairy products. India has never offered dairy duty concessions in any free trade agreement, citing food security and health standards.

India is also pushing for the removal of the 26% additional tariff imposed by the US, and seeking relief from steep duties on steel, aluminium (around 50%), and the automotive sector (25%). In return, India is willing to consider limited market access in specific industrial segments, while seeking better terms for its labour-intensive export sectors like garments, leather, gems and jewellery, shrimp, oil seeds, and fruits like grapes and bananas.

Sushant Sareen, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, sees the tariffs not as an endgame but an inflection point for internal reforms. "India has hoped it could do a fair deal with US. But succumbing to bullying is not part of the deal. At the end of the day, a trade deal has to be fair, and it must ensure that lives of Indians become better, not worse. Trump too shall pass. US tariffs are not the end of the world," he said.

Sareen argued that this could be the moment for India to reset its policy machinery. “Free the economy from the clutches of the bureaucracy, initiate reforms on a war footings, become the demolisher of obstacles that the PM was famous for, make regulation sensible, transparent and enforce it without exception. Bring in the necessary reforms in the digital space. Force foreign companies to follow Indian laws and have their data centres in India. Trump is a bully. The more we try to please and humour him, the more he will push us. Time to push back,” he wrote.