US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping reciprocal tariffs against ‘all countries’ on Wednesday — including a 26% levy against India. Former Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan has since dismissed concerns that the new tariffs could undermine India’s Make in India initiative.
“It is not as if Make in India is now going to get replaced by Make in the US. That is not going to happen…The US is not a major manufacturing power and they are not in a position to become one. So manufacturing is not going to shift into the US as President Trump is conceiving it. India has nothing to worry in terms of these steps harming our goal of promoting the manufacturing sector in India,” he told Business Today.
Wadhawan also claimed that the American economy was not structured to support large-scale manufacturing due to high costs and expensive labour. He cited the manufacture of Apple phones as an example — noting that some estimates put the cost at about $3,000 to $4,000.
Effects on countries and consumers
The countries like Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia would face even higher tariffs. Some key Indian sectors such as pharma, energy, copper, and semiconductors are exempt, and products like Apple phones, which rely heavily on American IP, will largely escape the worst impacts.
Wadhawan predicted that the tariffs would ultimately harm American consumers, as the domestic supply response in the US has historically been weak, leading to higher costs and a worsened trade deficit. He suggested that Trump’s real aim was to use tariffs as leverage in trade negotiations, calling it an “inefficient method.”
Reflecting on global trade dynamics, Wadhawan noted that the world was moving away from WTO-defined trade norms, with a potential split into a high-tariff zone led by the US and a low-tariff bloc comprising the rest of the world.
Impact on India
“We’ll feel some pain, but it’s not going to be overly burdensome,” Wadhwan said about the long-term impact on India as US export accounts only for 2%. He reaffirmed that India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat goals remain unaffected, as the US is not positioned to become a major manufacturing hub.