In 2018, when Trump became president for the first time, he imposed a 25% tariff on global steel and aluminum products on the grounds of national security. At that time, the European Union and Canada were exempted after a while of fuss, but India was unlucky, with an annual export loss of about US $1.2 billion.
In 2025, Trump entered the White House for the second time, and in March, he began upgrading steel and aluminum tariffs, directly targeting India's $7.6 billion in exports.The Modi government is no longer like before, but is directly prepared to counter.
On May 13, India submitted a $19.1 billion retaliatory tariff scheme to the WTO on the legal basis that the WTO ruled in 2022 that similar U.S. measures were illegal, but the U.S. has not been implemented.
India also cited Article 12.5 of the safeguards agreement, which says it would automatically launch on June 8 if no compensation is negotiated within 30 days.
The United States directly refused to negotiate in June, saying that these tariffs were not safeguard measures and had no legal basis. July 4th happens to be the Independence Day of the United States, and India has added a retaliatory tariff plan of $720 million in the automobile sector.
The chickpeas targeted on the list hit the Republican Party in Iowa, and auto parts targeted Michigan's swing areas, where farmers and workers are Trump's base.
India's steel exports to the United States have lost little, but the trade surplus is $45.7 billion, with medicines, IT services, textiles being the main force.
The United States has to consider how it works in these areas. Pfizer supplies 30% of its raw materials from India, and 15% of Silicon Valley employees are Indian. Modi used steel as a abandonment and exchanged medicine to protect the commander. The United States suddenly fell into a passive position.
Coupled with the gap in the game between China and the United States, India has become tough in order to strive for strategic autonomy.
Japan submitted a retaliatory notice to the WTO during the same period, and the chain of U.S. allies began to collapse. Trump always called the WTO garbage, but now India uses this garbage as a weapon.
Developing countries have followed, India pulled Japan and Europe into the WTO to hunt around the United States and seize the rules to form a place.
On August 6, the United States announced an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, citing reasons including India's purchase of Russian oil. On August 27, it further rose to 50%, which escalated the trade war.
The Indian Ministry of Commerce was not idle and held an emergency meeting to discuss it and proposed a counter-measure worth US$3.82 billion, covering American automobiles and steel.
The WTO received a new notice, and media from various countries flocked to cover it. India has turned to strengthening trade negotiations with the European Union and the United Kingdom, and has also invested US$18 billion to build a semiconductor factory to develop local industries.
In October, the U.S. Congress began to pressure Trump to repair relations, and India agreed to finalize a trade agreement before the autumn to avoid a full-scale war. Through export diversification, India's electronic products increased by 40%, and the overall export reached 346.1 billion US dollars, maintaining economic growth.
Inflation in the U.S. rose to 2.9 percent, and the allies disengaged.
Trump’s U.S. priority, essentially the power of power, resulted in India raising the WTO rule flag and in turn putting the U.S. in a deadly situation. India this counterattack, won the support of developing countries, subsequently strengthened the domestic industry, exports shifted to China and the EU, growth rate remained at 6.5%. Trump faced domestic economic pressure, continued to adjust the scope of tariffs, but India’s strategic autonomy increased.
India's steel exports suffered small losses, but medicine and IT are the brands, and the United States cannot be separated.
Politically, Modi took this opportunity to consolidate his position, and nationalist sentiment rose. Trump's tariff policy began in 2018, affecting global trade. In 2019, American farmers complained, soybeans piled up in warehouses, and voters in the Midwest were dissatisfied.
Trump wanted to use tariffs to force others to make concessions, but as a result, India did it if it refused to accept it, informing the world and cutting off Trump's retreat. There were no winners in the trade war, but India held the bottom line.
References:
1. Modi started to do it! India fired the first shot to challenge the hegemony of the US dollar, and the Biden administration was attacked by the enemy from both sides 2022-07-16
2. India once again hardened the United States in the WTO. Trump called the US-India trade "a complete one-sided disaster" China Business News 2025-09-04