US Tariffs: Disaster for UP Exporters, Says Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow, Aug 27 (PTI) Samajwadi Party President and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said the steep US tariffs on Indian goods have pushed the state's exporters to the brink of "collapse" and accused the BJP government of failing to protect industries and jobs.

In a letter to exporters, Yadav said retaliatory tariffs imposed by the US were a direct result of the Centre's "failed foreign policy" and warned that millions of livelihoods across Uttar Pradesh were at stake.

"Exporters are standing at the edge of disaster. Payment cycles have been disrupted, suppliers and vendors are distressed, and industries that sustain lakhs of families are paralysed," he said.

Akhilesh urged the state and central governments to step in immediately to provide a "safety shield" to exporters, particularly those working under the flagship One District One Product (ODOP) scheme.

"If the government does not act now, lakhs of exporters will be ruined, crores of people will become jobless, and unemployment in the state will spiral out of control," he warned.

Yadav listed more than 40 industries, including Banarasi sarees, carpets, brassware, locks, hardware, leather, perfumes, sports goods, processed food, handicrafts, and marble stonework -- whose goods, he claimed, are stranded in shipping containers at the sea due to the tariffs.

"This is the miracle of the BJP's foreign policy. The imposition of a 50 per cent tariff by the US has created an unprecedented crisis for around 500 industries in Uttar Pradesh alone," he said.

He accused the government of lacking vision despite having the means tointervene.

"This is not a shortage of funds but a shortage of thought. The BJP only knows how to extort donations under pressure, not how to protect industries. Prosperity will return only when the BJP leaves power," Yadav added.

US President Donald Trump's decision to double tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent, citing New Delhi's purchase of Russian crude oil, came into effect on Wednesday.

The additional 25 per cent levy follows a 25 per cent tariff imposed earlier this month as part of a broader trade crackdown on about 70 nations.

Trump had given a 21-day window to negotiate an agreement, which expired on Tuesday.