America First’ vs. ‘Make in India’: Trump’s Policy and the Risk to Millions of Livelihoods

America First’ vs. ‘Make in India’: Trump’s Policy and the Risk to Millions of Livelihoods

Two decades earlier, Jinul Abedeen made his way to New Delhi, leaving his family behind, and immersed himself in learning Zardozi, the fine traditional threadwork he trusted would provide long-term support for his household.

Workers at a garment factory in Amritsar, Punjab, on July 4, 2025. 

Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images

30 Aug 2025

The risk paid off when Abedeen secured employment at Orient Craft, a large garment manufacturer on the edge of New Delhi that caters to international giants such as Gap, Ralph Lauren, and American Eagle. For over a decade, he has been producing apparel that eventually finds its way to store shelves nearly 8,000 miles away in the United States.

“This is a craft of real value,” he reflected, remembering the difficult year he spent learning the intricate work while surviving only on modest savings. As his needle stitched delicate petals onto fine fabric, he noted, “If it were easy, it wouldn’t take a year to master.”But today, that livelihood he built with patience and skill is under serious threat.

                                                                                              

                                                                                                     

On Wednesday, the U.S. government announced a steep 50% tariff on Indian exports — among the highest duties it has ever levied on a trading partner. The move, part of an escalating global trade war, places industries like textiles, diamonds, steel, and automobiles at risk of significant losses.

Half of the newly announced 50% tariffs represent Donald Trump’s response to India’s increased imports of Russian oil since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The remaining portion is tied to Trump’s trademark “America First” strategy, aimed at narrowing U.S. trade imbalances — with India’s trade deficit reaching $45.7 billion in 2024.

Both are clashing with the “Make in India” dream of fellow populist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who envisions turning his country into a manufacturing powerhouse to power economic growth and lift millions out of poverty.As India’s biggest export market, the US is – or at least was – a big part of that dream.On the floor of Orient Craft, which exports about 82% of its products to the US, gloom is settling in.

“It has caused a lot of difficulties, and the company is in trouble,” Abedeen said. “If the company is in trouble, we are in trouble. If the country is in trouble, we are in trouble.”It’s a problem Modi can’t afford, with tens of millions of young people already struggling to enter the job market in the world’s fastest growing major economy.