India marks its Independence Day this year under the shadow of a bruising trade confrontation with Washington. The Trump administration’s decision to slap a 50% “country-specific” tariff on most Indian goods, on top of existing Most Favoured Nation duties, has thrust New Delhi into a strategic dilemma that could reshape its trade, energy, and diplomatic positioning.The choices ahead are stark: negotiate, retaliate, diversify markets, or trade concessions such as ending purchases of Russian oil for tariff relief. Each path carries a different mix of gains, risks, and market consequences, and the decisions taken now will shape both the economy and India’s role in the global order.
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