New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- Although the 50% levy by the United States on Indian exports and all other tariff changes since April 2025 now face a legal challenge in US courts, Indian policy has to run with the tariffs for now, and work on palliative measures. A few sectors are exempted (so far) from the India-specific tariff: pharmaceuticals, smartphones and refined petroleum among them. Brazil keeps India company at 50%. The rates on China are not settled. Some sectors like steel are uniform across countries. The 50% tariff translates to a roughly 25-30 % relative tariff disadvantage against equivalent competitors in the US market.

To get a handle on a tariff disadvantage of that size, we need to circle back to 1971, when under the Generalise...