As the United States, under President Donald Trump, doubles down on economic coercion in August 2025, a new 25% tariff hike—pushing rates to 50% on many Indian exports—has ignited tensions with India over its continued imports of discounted Russian oil. Effective August 27, this move aims to punish New Delhi for sustaining Moscow’s war economy amid the Ukraine conflict.
However, the incongruity of these tariffs is that, through an Asia-centric prism, with the likes of Asian Century simplifying the proposed idea . The latter can in fact promote the economic growth of the region, strengthening intraregional trade flows, and lessening its dependence on Western markets. Nations such as India, China, and Russia are in the same position to exploit this crisis to increase their economic influence and, in the process, redefine the global commerce balance.
The US Gambit and Its Fallout
The tariffs are part of the Washington policy to isolate Moscow through sanctioning countries that buy its oil, which constitutes almost half of its export proceeds. India, previously the fourth biggest oil importer, has taken advantage of any discount on Russian crude, available at 20 per cent lower than the international price. Itd saved billions as it continued to seek energy supplies in a volatile Middle East.
The reasoning behind the Trump administration’s stance is perceived to sow discordance with the use of sanctions, and hence the 50% tariff on Indian goods such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural goods. Indian leaders, among them Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have remained steadfast, with energy security coming out as a priority over US pressure, ruining bilateral relations to the lowest point.
In the case of the US, the tariffs are two-edged. According to estimates, they fit Trump’s “America First” policy of job shielding local industries and raking in huge earnings–as much as $170 billion in 2025. The policy would increase the cost of Indian imports, increasing US manufacturing and agriculture production, lowering the dependence on overseas rice, spices, and generics. Nevertheless, the price is high. The increased prices of basic needs such as drugs and food will stimulate inflation that will pressure American households.
Retaliatory tariffs India imposes on US products such as soybeans may be a big blow to farmers, with the disruption in supply chains in the automotive and electronics industries on the horizon. Opponents cry that they hear echoes of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which intensified the depression. There is a risk of undermining US influence in the Indo-Pacific by alienating India, which may prove difficult to counter China.
Asia’s Economic Empowerment
Farmer crippling Asia, the tariffs are encouraging a push towards regional self-reliance, a main characteristic of the Asian Century. This is causing immediate pain in India due to reduced exports to the US by 30-40 percent leading to a reduced GDP level of about 0.7 per cent, but it is still setting a path towards other diversifications. New Delhi is strengthening relations with Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa through corridors such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and agreements with ASEAN. The displaced exports, textiles, and tech services had a market in these countries to continue their production.
The tariffs also enhance the Russia-India-China (RIC triad. Russia has made inroads in Russia, despite sanctions imposed, as India is now its biggest buyer of oil imports, with almost every fourth barrel being Russian. The Indian refineries run this into a product that is exported to the US and other countries, stabilizing the costs of energy within India as the Moscow economy continues to thrive. Russia is the importer of the Indian machines and chemicals, so it forms mutual trade cycles.
China, in the same boat, with the US hitting it with 50% tariff on products such as semiconductors, is set to benefit as Indian products lose their export appeal. China can potentially take the US market share, but this will be dangerous due intra Asian market competition. More positively, the crisis contributes to Sino-Indian cooperation through BRICS, dollar-free payment channels and the extension of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative to Indian infrastructure. The Asian Development Bank estimates intra-regional trade to grow 6-7 per cent annually up to 2030 based on such readjustments.
Agriculture and Goods: Asia’s Trade Resilience
The increasing importance of Asia is reflected in agriculture and the trade of goods. India’s agriculture exports to the US include basmati rice, tea and spices, whose volume is now set to fall by 30% because of tariffs, forcing farmers to identify new markets to sell. The demand for organic produce in China and the need of wheat in Russia would balance out the losses, supporting the prices. The Indian pharmaceutical industry which accounts to 20% of the generics in the US, will be hit, but can switch to Asian markets, and develop bio-pharmaceuticals. E-commerce centres in Southeast Asia could take over the textiles industry by relying on the Indian successes in the digital arena.
The exportation of EVs and solar panels to India and Russia by China further gives its supply chain power. The tariffs also stimulate the so-called China-plus-one policies, making India and ASEAN the target of FDI that is expected to potentially contribute at least $1 trillion to the region before 2030, according to IMF forecasts. Farming trade in Asia in the headship of India and China, compensates for the global shortages, and sustainable farm technology has been shared to Russia.
The Asian Century Unfolds
The 50 percent tariffs that were supposed to cripple India are rather fuelling the rise of the Asian economic realm. The attitude of India, which is supported by China and Russia, depicts a multipolar world where the role of Asia dominates trade leadership. The resilience fostered by RIC and BRICS will be led by intra-regional commerce, which is fast becoming the dominant leader in commerce over the transatlantic trade. In its New York Headquarters, the Asian Century is not just a vision but is a reality and has been structured in the furnace of Western protectionism, where India, China and Russia have repositioned the world in the field of economic power.