Shipping containers are loaded and unloaded onto ships at the Port of Los Angeles, California, on July 9, 2025. US President Donald Trump has sent letters to multiple countries dictating new US tariff rates on their countries' imports to the USA. Photo: VCG

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he will not compromise the interests of the country's farmers even if he has to pay a heavy price for it, Reuters reported.

Modi made the remarks after the White House announced that it is imposing an additional 25 percent tariff on India, bringing the total levies against the South Asian country to 50 percent.

The US' new tariff rate on India is now among the highest levy on all of the US' trading partners. US President Donald Trump had previously threatened to impose an additional 25 percent tariff on imports from India, in addition to a "penalty" over the country's purchase of military equipment and energy from Russia, CNBC reported.

Without directly referring to the US tariffs or trade talks, Modi said in a function in New Delhi that "For us, our farmers' welfare is supreme," and "India will never compromise on the wellbeing of its farmers, dairy (sector) and fishermen. And I know personally I will have to pay a heavy price for it and I am ready for it. India is ready for it," according to Times of India.

Trade talks between India and the US collapsed after five rounds of negotiations over disagreement on opening India's farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases, according to Reuters.

Reacting to Trump's additional tariffs, the ministry of external affairs of India said in a statement that it is "extremely unfortunate," according to Times of India.

"We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests," it said.

"The US tariff hike lacks logic," Dammu Ravi, secretary of economic relations in India's foreign ministry, told reporters.

"So this is a temporary aberration, a temporary problem that the country will face, but in course of time, we are confident that the world will find solutions."

Ravi said "like-minded countries will look for cooperation and economic engagement that will be mutually beneficial to all sides."

As US tariffs on Brazilian goods jumped to 50 percent on Wednesday, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters in an interview that he saw no room for direct talks now with Trump, which would otherwise likely be a "humiliation."

The Brazilian President said on Wednesday he would initiate a conversation among the BRICS group of developing nations about how to tackle Trump's tariffs and that he planned to call Modi on Thursday.

Trump's sweeping new tariffs on more than 90 countries around the world have come into effect on Thursday. A 50 percent tariff on Indian goods is set to take effect on August 28.

Global Times