India will navigate global disruptions with policy agility, long-term investments: Nirmala Sitharaman amid US tariffs

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday took a veiled dig at Donald Trump's new tariff rules but assured that India will navigate these ‘global disruptions’ with its policies.

Speaking at an event organised by the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai, Sitharaman said India will work its way out of these global disruptions.

“We will navigate global disruptions with policy agility and long-term investments,” she said.

Taking a veiled dig at the tariff policies introduced by the US, the finance minister warned that they could ‘disrupt’ the global supply chain policy.

“Rise of protectionist policies have the potential to disrupt global supply chains, increase production costs,” Sitharaman said.

Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a slew of reciprocal tariffs on almost all countries around the world, including India. As per the new trade policy, most Indian imports at the US will be taxed at 26 per cent. However, Trump offered a grace period of 90 days for the policy to kick in so that countries except China could negotiate with the US.

Trump said that the policies are aimed at making more companies shift their manufacturing bases to the US, which will in turn benefit Americans and create thousands of jobs.

However, economists and experts have warned of a possible inflation in the US that could spill over and result in a broader recession.

FM warns of challenging environment

The finance minister further revealed that recalibration efforts on trade were ‘very challenging’

“The recalibration efforts on trade are very, very challenging,” Nirmala Sitharaman said at the event to mark 150 years of BSE.

The finance minister said India's financial markets have shown remarkable resilience despite recent global uncertainties and appreciated retail investors' faith in the markets.

Domestic institutional investors' (DIIs) transition from being supportive to dominant roles in Indian markets underlines the growing maturity and depth of India's capital market.

Stock markets globally have faced turmoil ever since US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on most nations, including India, earlier this month. The markets recovered some ground after the US government announced a 90-day pause on the implementation of the reciprocal tariff.