As US burdens India with 75% tariffs amid Iran tensions, Shashi Tharoor expresses concern, calls situation ‘troubling’

A day after US President Donald Trump announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on any country doing business with Iran, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday called the condition ‘serious’ and ‘troubling’ as he noted that India would bear a heavy brunt as now it would have to pay a whopping 75 per cent tariffs to the United States.

Tharoor expressed concern over the initial 25 percent tariff imposed on India as it was more than those on the rest of the south Asian nations who were India's competitors in exporting labour-intensive products like gems, jewellery, marine products, shrimp and leather. “Now, you have 25 per cent more for Russian sanctions which takes it up to 50 per cent and if there are 25 per cent more in Iranian sanctions, that it takes it up to 75 per cent. So, let's face it, no Indian company will be viable in exporting to America at 75 percent,” ANI reported quoting Tharoor.

He further pointed that after the latest tariff imposition, it is just going to be items that are not so far sanctioned, like pharmaceuticals, which India can continue exporting.

“So, it is troubling. I don't know what the Govt is saying, but from my point of view, this is very serious,” he said before urging the newly appointed US ambassador to work hard on striking a trade deal between the two countries.

As India-US trade relationships experience sharp crests and troughs, Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday spoke to US secretary of state Marco Rubio over the phone, where the two discussed bilateral cooperation including trade, nuclear energy and defence, Hindustan Times reported.

Jaishankar said that he had a “good conversation” with Rubio and added that they would remain in touch on these and other issues.

Tharoor's remarks come days after ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal called US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick’s claim that a bilateral trade deal couldn’t be sealed last year because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call President Donald Trump ‘inaccurate’.

Making an appearance in a podcast, Lutnick caused a political stir as he made fresh claims of PM Modi ‘not calling’ Trump signaling that India was uncomfortable with the deal, Hindustan Times reported.

He claimed that India had been given ‘three Fridays’ to clinch a trade agreement, during which PM Modi was expected to call Trump as a move to close the pact.

MEA spokesperson Jaiswal in its weekly media briefing did not approve of Lutnick's claims. “The characterisation of these discussions in the reported remarks is not accurate,” Jaiswal said adding that India remains interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal and looks forward to concluding it.

He also noted that PM Modi and President Trump had spoken on the phone on eight occasions throughout 2025 as they covered several aspects of the wide-ranging partnership between the two countries.