NEW DELHI – After the U.S. government decided to increase duties on Indian imports, yoga teacher and well-known businessman Ramdev has asked people in India to stop buying American goods and firms. Ramdev called the new tariffs “political bullying, hooliganism, and dictatorship.” They went into effect on Wednesday and raised the total levy on several commodities by up to 50%.
Ramdev told the media, “Indian citizens should strongly oppose the 50% tariffs that America has put on India.” “People should stop buying things from American companies and brands.”
Ramdev told Indians not to buy food from popular American brands like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Subway, KFC, or McDonald’s. He said, “Not a single Indian should be seen at the counters of these brands.” There should be a huge boycott… If this happens, things will get crazy in the United States. Inflation in the United States will rise to the extent that Trump may need to rescind these tariffs. “Trump has made a mistake by going against India.”
President Donald Trump put the extra 25% tariff on India because the country kept buying oil from Russia. This new levy is added to an existing 25% tariff, making the total 50% for things like clothes, gems and jewelry, shoes, and chemicals. The tariff increase is likely to have a big effect on India’s export-oriented sectors, especially those that rely heavily on labor. This might mean job losses and slower economic growth in one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies.
The Indian stock market was closed on Wednesday for a Hindu holiday, but analysts said that equity indexes had already suffered their worst day in three months on Tuesday in anticipation of the additional levies. The Indian rupee also kept losing value, reaching its lowest point in three weeks.
The additional levies come after five rounds of trade discussions between Washington and additional Delhi did not lead to a compromise that would have lowered U.S. tariffs to a more manageable level. The Indian government hasn’t said anything about retaliatory tariffs yet, but it’s said to be working on ways to lessen the damage, such as giving exporters money and helping them find new markets.