WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: Indian spice merchants and tea growers will be among global exporters who will breathe easy along with American consumers after US president Donald Trump, feeling the heat of rising domestic prices due to tariffs, moved to lower import duties on nearly 200 food, farm, and agricultural items. Tucked deep in the list is a range of spices, including black pepper, cloves, cumin, cardamom, turmeric, ginger, varieties of tea, mango derivatives, and some nuts, including cashew, all of which India exports to the US.
Trump’s duty waiver gives major boost to India’s key agri exports
Indian spice exports to the US were valued at more than $500 million in 2024, and the US imported tea and coffee from India worth nearly $83 million in the same period. The US also imported $843 million worth of fresh or dried cashew nuts – which also got a break – from across the world, with India accounting for around 20% of the imports.
Not making the cut, however, are Indian seafoods, including shrimp, and basmati rice, which are multi-billion dollar exports from India to the US. Indian gems, jewellery, and apparel, too, remain under 50% US tariff sanctions, pending a trade deal that Trump has said will happen once New Delhi turns off the Russian oil spigot and steps up buying US energy.Effectively, the exemptions apply only to little over $1 billion in qualifying agricultural exports from India.Indian govt officials said in New Delhi that 50 processed food products, whose exports were estimated at $491 million last year, including coffee and tea extracts, cocoa preparations, juices, fruit pulps, mango-based products and vegetable waxes, will be the top gainers. Next will be spices, whose exports were pegged at $359 million last year.They said that 48 fruits and nuts, such as coconuts, guavas, mangoes, cashew nuts, bananas, areca nuts, and pineapples, also stand to benefit although the value of these exports was around $55 million. This amounts to nearly a fifth of India’s agricultural exports, estimated at $5.7 billion. Exempted products were estimated at around 40% of India’s goods exports of $86 billion last year.Also read- ‘Complain, Complain, Complain,’: Donald Trump withdraws support for longtime ally Marjorie Taylor Greene who presented bill to get rid of H-1B visas“These reductions will provide a level-playing field for these agri exports which were disadvantaged due to higher tariffs on India’s exports vis-a-vis its competitors. Our products are well-placed to gain due to existing supplier credibility, established distribution networks, and strong diaspora-driven demand – factors that provide a competitive edge in the US,” said an Indian govt official.Trump’s rollback, announced through an executive order he signed on Friday, comes amid growing disquiet across the country over the cost of living, reflected in voter dissatisfaction that led to a GOP rout in byelections at the hands of Democrats who campaigned on the “affordability” message. The US president has also floated the idea of using tariff revenue to issue $2,000 rebate checks to Americans and launched a probe into the meat packing industry following Americans’ beef over high prices.Also read- Make America Grate Again: Trump vs MTG in epic MAGA maelstrom after she tries to maim H1b visasUS trade associations and political and economic commentators expressed relief at the president’s rollback, which came even as he insisted his tariffs have not increased cost of living and prices have come down.The US president and his followers are accused of being tone deaf to cost-of-living issues, prompting one wag to remark: “My budget and my reality are not on speaking terms anymore.” The subject became a lightning rod for criticism after Trump hosted a Gatsby-themed Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago estate and embarked on building an extravagant ballroom bigger than the White House it will be attached to – all the while preening about what critics describe as a gilded Oval Office now garishly overlaid with gold curios and accents.
