How Trump's 26% Reciprocal Tariffs Will Impact Indian Exports

India was slapped with a reciprocal tax by the United States on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump raised trade barriers on all goods entering America.

Below are some of the key points:

Tariff rate and comments on India 

A flat 26% tariff was imposed on all goods being exported by India to the United States, amidst reciprocal tariffs in the range of 10%-49% unveiled by Trump for other countries.

The United States imposes a 2.5% tariff on passenger vehicle imports, while India imposes 70%, the White House said in a statement. Apples are allowed to enter US duty free, but India imposes 50% duty on US apples coming in to India, while rice attracts 2.7% in US, in India it is at 80%.

On networking switches and routers, the United States imposes a 0% tariff, but India levies higher rates 10-20%, the statement added.

The US has a trade deficit of $46 billion with India.

Which sector may be hit the most?

Nearly $14 billion worth of electronics products and over $9 billion worth of gems and jewellery are among the top sectors to be hit by the US tariffs. While the 26% tariff will not apply to auto parts and aluminium products, those will still attract the 25% tariff that Trump had announced earlier.

The White House said pharmaceutical products, which comprise nearly $9 billion worth of exports from India as per government data, and energy products are exempt under the latest round of tariffs.

Washington's previous sector-wide average tariffs on India for automobiles, gems and jewellery, chemicals and pharmaceuticals and electronic products stood at 1.05%, 2.12%, 1.06%, and 0.41%, respectively, as per Global Trade Research Initiative.

What are the tariffs other competing asian nations face?

US has levied a 34% reciprocal tax on China, Japan's exports to US will attract 24%, Thailand 36%, Bangladesh 37%, Malaysia 24%, Taiwan at 32%, South Korea at 25% and Vietnam will attract 46% - one of the highest.

Comment on non-tariff barriers

The White House statement said India imposes its own uniquely burdensome and/or duplicative testing and certification requirements in sectors such as chemicals, telecom products, and medical devices that make it difficult or costly for American companies to sell their products in India.

"If these barriers were removed, it is estimated that US exports would increase by at least $5.3 billion annually," it said.

Way ahead for India

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit in February, the two nations agreed to start talks towards clinching an early trade deal and resolving their standoff on tariffs.

Reuters has reported that India is open to cutting tariffs substantially for over $23 billion worth of US goods being sold to India.

With Trump charging a higher tariff on China, sectors where India can gain market share in shipments to US include textiles, apparel and footwear, according to an internal Indian government report reviewed by Reuters.

India sees an opportunity in raising exports of iron and steel products too, where it has manufacturing competence, "especially if tariffs on China are higher," according to the report.

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Ghibli Art: Fun Trend Or Privacy Nightmare? Experts Warn Of Risks Involved

AI-created Ghibli-style artwork is sweeping social media, with users posting breathtaking, surreal images based on Studio Ghibli's animation. OpenAI's recent ChatGPT update has made it simple for users to create illustrations that look like the classic style of Hayao Miyazaki's movies. The trend has turned everything from scenes in movies to personal family photographs into Ghibli-style visual images. Apart from creating digital sensation, the viral trend has also raised privacy concerns among the internet experts and social media enthusiasts. Experts caution against possible data threats, calling on users to be mindful of how their personal data can be treated when using AI image-generation technology. While having fun, privacy concerns cannot be ignored in this fast-emerging trend. 

Proton, a platform that works on data privacy and security, noted on X, "From the risks of data breaches, once you share personal photos with AI, you lose control over how they are used since those photos are then used to train AI. For instance, they could be used to generate content that may be defaming or used as harassment."

Think this is a fun trend? Think again.

While some don't have an issue sharing selfies on social media, the trend of creating a "Ghibli-style" image has seen many people feeding OpenAI photos of themselves and their families.

Here's why that's a problem:

1/4 pic.twitter.com/o9VqS3Teoe

— Proton (@ProtonPrivacy) March 27, 2025

The platform further warns that "many AI models, particularly those used in image generation, rely on large training datasets. In some cases, photos of you, or with your likeness, might be used without your consent."

British futurist Elle Farrell-Kingsley also tweeted that uploading pics/thoughts to AI tools risks exposing metadata, location, and even sensitive data - esp for kids. If it's free, you (& your data) are the price. If you're fine with that, great, but it's good to be aware."

Ghibli-style AI art is everywhere, but some concerns:

1️⃣Privacy: Uploading pics/thoughts to AI tools risks exposing metadata, location, even sensitive data—esp for kids.

⚖️If it's free, you (& your data) are the price. If you're fine with that, great but it's good to be aware pic.twitter.com/l6HxjP3vtO

— Elle Farrell-Kingsley (@ellefkingsley) March 28, 2025

These X handles are not alone; many digital privacy activists have raised concerns over OpenAI's Ghibli-style AI art generator, claiming it may compromise user privacy by using personal photos to train AI, leading to loss of control over their usage.

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US Teacher, Facing Sexual Assault Charges, Says 15-Year-Old Set Her Up

A US teacher, facing charges of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old student, has claimed the boy set her up and that she's being targeted because she cared too much about people.

Christina Formella, a special education teacher and a soccer coach at Downers Grove South High School, added that the teen broke into her phone and used her number to send inappropriate messages to himself as a "blackmail" plot.

"She claimed that one day, [the boy] had grabbed her phone unattended, had entered her passcode ... had sent the message to his phone, had then deleted the message from her phone, and had saved it to his phone as blackmail," the court documents read, as per The NY Post.

According to court documents, one of the messages Formella reportedly sent to the boy in 2023 read, "I love having sex with you." 

The boy replied, "I know baby I love it so much. It feels so good. It's so passionate. It's so intimate. It's so perfect. I love you so, so much mama."

The alleged abuse came to light after the boy's mother found inappropriate messages on his son's phone last month. She then lodged a complaint against Formella at the Downers Grove police station. She has been charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual assault.

"Everybody comes after me because I'm good-looking and I'm just a good person who cares too much about the boy," the 30-year-old told authorities.

Board of Education President Don Renner said in a statement that students have been urged to come forward to police or the school if they saw anything dangerous or unusual, and authorities would take "all reports seriously."

Formella will next appear in court on April 14.

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Estranged Spouses Can Go To Any Extent To Satisfy Ego: Court On Plea Over Child's Record

Parents embroiled in matrimonial disputes can go to any extent to satisfy their ego, the Bombay High Court has said dismissing a petition filed by a woman seeking only her name to be mentioned as parent in the child's birth record.

Neither of the parents can exercise any right in respect of their child's birth record, Justices Mangesh Patil and Y G Khobragade of the HC's Aurangabad bench said in the March 28 order while deprecating such petitions.

The petition is a classic example of how a matrimonial dispute is a genesis for multiple litigations, the HC said and imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 on the petitioner, noting the plea was a sheer abuse of the process and waste of the court's precious time.

The 38-year-old woman had filed the petition, seeking a direction to the Aurangabad municipal authorities to record her name in the birth record of her child as a single parent and issue a birth certificate with only her name.

The woman in her plea claimed her estranged husband was addicted to certain vices and had never even seen the face of his child.

The high court, however, said just because the father of the child is addicted to vices, the mother cannot insist as a right to be mentioned as a single parent in the child's birth certificate.

"Neither of the parents can exercise any right in respect of the child's birth record," it said.

The bench in its order said the present petition was a classic example of how a matrimonial dispute is a genesis for multiple litigations.

"This demonstrates as to what extent parents, embroiled in a matrimonial dispute, can go to satisfy their ego," the HC said.

It is quite evident that the woman, in order to satisfy her own ego, is not even bothered about the child's interests, the court said, adding the welfare of the child is of paramount importance.

"The relief being claimed, clearly demonstrates that she can go to the extent of treating her child as if it is a property in respect of which she can claim some rights, ignoring the interest and welfare of the child," the bench said in the order.

The woman was undermining the child's interest by seeking to mention only her name in the birth record, it said.

While dismissing the petition, the HC said it has no manner of doubt that the same was a "sheer abuse of the process and waste of precious time of the court".

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Air India's Receives 1st Legacy B777 Plane Back After Heavy Refresh

Air India on Wednesday received the first of its legacy Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft after heavy refresh and the refresh of the remaining 12 planes is expected to be completed by year-end, according to officials.

Since the refit of the legacy B777 aircraft, which was to start last year, has been delayed due to supply chain issues, the airline decided to go for heavy refresh of these planes.

Heavy refresh of an aircraft includes having new carpets, seat covers, cushions and fixing broken seats.

Air India has a total of 40 legacy wide-body planes -- 13 B777s and 27 B787s.

The heavy refresh of the B777-300 ER was done in Singapore and completed in around 50 days. The heavy refresh of all the legacy B777s is expected to be completed by the end of this year, the officials said.

The refreshed aircraft will be deployed on the domestic route for one or two days and later for ultra-long operations.

The B777s are mainly deployed for ultra long haul flights connecting Toronto, Vancouver (Canada) and San Francisco, Chicago, Newark and New York (US).

Ultra-long haul flights are those having a duration of over 14 hours.

Air India has 13 legacy Boeing 777-300 ERs in its fleet of 198 planes. Some of these legacy planes have first-class cabins.

There are a total of 67 wide-body aircraft in the fleet -- 19 B777-300 ERs (including 6 leased from Etihad Airways), 8 B777-200 LRs (including 5 leased from Delta Air Lines), 27 legacy B787-8s, 7 B787-9s and 6 A350-600s.

The first legacy B787 will be flying out for retrofit in April.

The airline also has narrow-body planes -- 14 A321 neos, 13 A321 ceos, 94 A320 neos, 4 A320 ceos and 6 A319s.

Last month, Air India MD and CEO Campbell Wilson said the airline expects to complete the upgradation of all legacy wide body aircraft by mid-2027.

Under the USD 400 million retrofit programme for narrow-body and wide body planes, the first retrofitted A320 neo aircraft is already back in operations. The airline expects to refit all of the 27 A320 neo aircraft by the third quarter of this year.

While talking about the supply situation, Wilson had also said there were pinch points everywhere such as there are no engines for some narrow-body aircraft, there are issues with seat suppliers as well as availability of components and parts of fuselage.

"Reality is that it is going to remain a supply-constrained market, not just for Air India, India, (I am) talking about worldwide... for another 4-5 years," he had said.

In the context of the supply chain woes, he had also said, "We are victims of the circumstances as is every other airline".

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Lalu Prasad Yadav Admitted To AIIMS-Delhi For Treatment

RJD president and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad was on Wednesday admitted to AIIMS in Delhi for treatment, sources said.

The 76-year-old leader has been admitted to the Cardio Critical Care Unit of the Cardio-Neuro Centre under Dr Rakesh Yadav, Professor of Cardiology at AIIMS, they said.

A team of doctors is monitoring his condition, the sources said.

He was brought to AIIMS for treatment at around 9.35 pm after being admitted to a hospital in Patna for a brief period.

Talking to reporters in Patna, his son and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said Prasad had developed sores on his back and an arm, which he hopes to get operated upon in Delhi.

"Lalu ji had reached the airport in the afternoon to board his flight for Delhi. My mother Rabri Devi is accompanying him. A sudden drop in blood pressure was noted following which we rushed him to the Paras Hospital," the former deputy chief minister said.

According to Prakash Sinha, who led the team of doctors treating Prasad, "He was kept in the emergency ward where his condition improved after intravenous therapy. He wanted to know if he could go to Delhi in an air ambulance. We asked him to go ahead." Yadav, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, said, "My father is a man of courage. He chose to travel by a normal flight".

The young leader, however, admitted that the family was concerned about the ailing septuagenarian, who has been a diabetic for many years and has also undergone heart surgery and a kidney transplant.

Prasad was convicted in fodder scam cases and has been out on bail for several years on health grounds.

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Petition Filed In Allahabad High Court To Stop Justice Yashwant Varma From Taking Oath

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed before the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench on Wednesday seeking a directive to its Chief Justice to refrain from administering the oath to Justice Yashwant Varma, court sources said.

The PIL cited the ongoing in-house inquiry ordered by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) into the recovery of "four to five semi-burnt sacks" of Indian currency notes from the residence of Justice Varma following after a fire incident last month.

Justice Varma was recently transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court in the midst of the cash stash row.

The PIL, filed by Vikash Chaturvedi, is expected to be heard on April 4, the sources said.

Advocate Ashok Pandey, representing Chaturvedi, argued that since the CJI has reportedly "directed the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma during the ongoing inquiry, there is no justification for proceeding with the oath ceremony".

The petitioner has also challenged the central government's notification dated March 28, 2025, which accepted the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court.

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