India among most vulnerable country to US tariff, says S&P Global

S&P Global, a leading rating agency, on Monday warned that several Asia-pacific economies could face higher tariffs under the Trump administration, with India, South Korea, and Thailand being the most vulnerable to potential trade retaliation.
In its report titled ‘Asia-Pacific economies likely to be hit by US trade tariffs’, S&P highlighted that economies such as Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, and South Korea have higher economic exposure to the United States, meaning they would be most impacted by any tariffs the US may impose, PTI reported.
"We believe this might not be the end of it. Uncertainty is high because of the high leeway the US administration gives itself in imposing trade tariffs on partner economies, and bilateral negotiations can impact outcomes as well," S&P said in the report.
The report also noted that countries like India and Japan, with more domestically-focused economies, may have some protection from the effects of higher tariffs.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose reciprocal tariffs on trading partners, including India. The US has already enacted additional 10% tariffs on imports from China and 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum.
S&P emphasized that the situation remains uncertain, as the Trump administration has broad discretion in imposing tariffs on its trade partners, and the outcomes could change depending on bilateral negotiations.
"This is a tricky item to track because it's unclear at what level of disaggregation the US administration will compare tariffs. And the outcomes could differ greatly, depending on the level of detail applied," S&P added.
The agency also pointed out that some Asia-Pacific nations impose significantly higher tariffs on US products than the US does on theirs, which could put them under scrutiny for retaliatory tariffs.
The report analyzed the weighted average tariff rates in Asia-Pacific economies on US products, compared with US tariffs on imports from those economies, highlighting the tariff differentials.
S&P concluded that, based on these criteria, India, followed by South Korea and Thailand, are the countries most at risk of facing trade retaliation.