Why is US President Donald Trump Doing What he is Doing? India and Tariffs

US President, Mr Donald Trump ("Trump" or "Donald Trump") is being called in the media and by his political opponents and critics as mindless, dumb, idiot and stupid, especially regarding his 50% tariff on India. 

So, why is Trump doing what he is doing? For this, it would do good to look at his election speeches and election results. So, who voted for Donald Trump? Mainly, Whites and Hispanics, according to statistics (here and here), chose Trump over Ms Kamala Harris. This clarifies as to Trump's vote base.

Hindsight is always better. If we look back, we get more clarity on what he is doing. Trump used China as the extreme example to run his campaign without alienating his voters (such as Indian Americans) but his aim was to tariff India too. It was hoped that there would be a supply chain shift from China to India. 

Trump's election campaign team called his election agenda as Agenda47 (also see this), which actually is a set of videos highlighting Trump's agenda. It would do well for media to look at some of them to understand Trump's decisions. 

One of the core ideas of Trump was that the Biden administration, his political opponents then in power, was "punishing domestic producers and rewarding outsourcers". Trump wanted to incentivise domestic production by creating "a new pro-America system of universal baseline tariffs on most foreign products that rewards domestic production while taxing foreign companies." The purpose of these tariffs on "most foreign products" (emphasised) was to make America "quickly" into a "manufacturing powerhouse".

This video highlights his agenda on this issue. Key points of this agenda are provided in the link and are reproduced below for convenience, to the extent relevant to the context:

• "Rather than raising taxes on American producers, President Trump will impose tariffs on FOREIGN producers through a system of universal baseline tariffs on most imported goods." (emphasised)
• "Higher tariffs will increase incrementally if other countries manipulate their currency or otherwise engage in unfair trading practices."
• "President Trump will establish new rules to stop U.S. companies from investing in China and stop China from buying up America, allowing only those investments that serve American interests."
• "A BETTER DEAL FOR AMERICAN WORKERS, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES: President Trump’s plans will bring back millions of American jobs and generate trillions of dollars of new wealth to strengthen American society."

The "China" that Trump uses is not merely China but is a metaphor for all manufacturing hubs exporting manufactured goods to USA. The agenda states: "Raising tariffs on foreign producers while lowering taxes for domestic producers will help keep jobs and wealth in the United States." (emphasised)

The idea as per this agenda is to increase tariffs so much on manufacturing hubs such as China and India that US companies will establish manufacturing plants in USA, which would give jobs to the middle class in America: "Higher tariffs create millions of new jobs, increase real household income, boost GDP, increase domestic manufacturing output, and generate hundreds of billions of dollars in new government revenue." 

The idea of a "universal baseline tariff" was to implement a uniform tariff on all imports. In addition, it was also contemplated that reciprocal tariffs would be imposed:

"To achieve this goal, we will phase in a system of universal, baseline tariffs on most foreign products. On top of this, higher tariffs will increase incrementally depending on how much individual foreign countries devalue their currency. They devalue their currency to take advantage of the United States, and they subsidize their industries, or otherwise engage in trade cheating and abuse. And they do it now like never before, and we had it largely stopped and it was going to be stopped completely within less than a year." 

Whether Trump's agenda, which are being implemented, could stand the test of the trade laws, US and international? Time will only tell. 

Just a caution for Indians watching the news daily. Don't be swayed by Indian news media calling Trump names. Diplomacy and international trade does not gain even a bit by this name calling. What is important to understand why Trump is doing what his doing and explore means of how Indians at the micro-level and the macro-level should respond. Just imagine what happens to Indian manufacturing if the production shifts from India to US or elsewhere owing to high tariffs. For instance, US$ 241.84 million worth textiles were exported from India to US in 2024. 

• What happens to the manufacturing companies which manufactured these textiles? 
• What is the status of these manufacturers? 
• What are they saying? 
• What is their Plan B? 
• What happens to them in the long run if US wants to manufacture these garments? 
• What is the Government's plan? 

These are some questions that Indian media, economics/ trade scholarship and stakeholders should analyse, discuss and address.

[Edited on 08.09.2025 after posting to correct some errors and formatted afresh. Substance of the arguments remain]