Trump’s Tariffs and the Unlikely Beneficiary in India: The RSS
When the United States imposes tariffs, the ripple effects are usually felt across the world. India, like many emerging economies, often finds itself adjusting policies to protect its exporters, safeguard its workforce, and keep markets stable. But in the current wave of tariff politics, particularly associated with Donald Trump’s trade vision, there appears to be an unexpected winner within India — the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The ideological fountainhead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the RSS has long advocated for swadeshi, or economic self-reliance. Now, the external pressures of global trade wars may be handing the organisation the ideological validation it has sought for decades.
Tariffs as Political Cover
The Trump-era approach to trade has been unapologetically protectionist. By imposing tariffs on imports, the US sought to safeguard domestic industries, but such policies have invariably placed pressure on global supply chains. For India, the burden falls on exporters who lose competitiveness in the American market, and on workers whose livelihoods are tied to sectors vulnerable to external shocks.
Ordinarily, such disruption might have triggered widespread policy concerns about reduced global access and the need for compromise in negotiations. Instead, the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has chosen to reframe the challenge as an opportunity. Through initiatives like “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and campaigns encouraging Indians to “buy local,” tariffs abroad are being used as justification for protectionist measures at home. The government’s recent calls for consumers to celebrate a “savings festival” by choosing Indian goods are emblematic of this approach.
RSS and the Ideology of Swadeshi
For the RSS, this shift is deeply significant. Since its inception, the organisation has advocated for swadeshi economics — an inward-looking, self-sufficient model that prioritises Indian producers and discourages excessive dependence on foreign markets. In the 1990s, when India liberalised its economy and opened its markets, the RSS was often critical of policies that it viewed as eroding domestic self-reliance.
One of its key documents, Bharat Ka Abhyuday: Swadeshi Rooprekha, outlined a vision for India’s economic development that stood in sharp contrast to the liberalisation wave. However, successive governments, including those led by the BJP, often had to balance ideological purity with practical considerations such as attracting foreign investment, modernising infrastructure, and integrating India into global trade networks.
Now, global tariffs provide political cover for the government to adopt policies more closely aligned with the RSS worldview. What once appeared to be ideological rigidity can be reframed as prudent economic nationalism in an unpredictable world.
Atmanirbhar Bharat: A Dual Circulation Model
The Indian government’s recent emphasis on “Atmanirbhar Bharat” illustrates this ideological convergence. The model effectively borrows from concepts of “dual circulation,” popularised in China — balancing a strong domestic market (internal circulation) with global trade ambitions (external circulation). In practice, this means incentivising domestic production, reducing reliance on imports, and simultaneously positioning India as an alternative supply hub for global players wary of China.
For the RSS, this is more than policy evolution — it is validation. The push to strengthen local industries, boost small-scale enterprises, and encourage citizens to buy Indian echoes the organisation’s long-standing mantra.
RSS’s Renewed Economic Push
The article notes that within the RSS, there is now greater institutional focus on aligning economic activity with its ideological commitments. Internal exercises have been initiated to study India’s economic position and chart strategies for strengthening swadeshi initiatives. The organisation is also reportedly encouraging its affiliates in the economic sector to reduce compromises that dilute their ideological goals.
This renewed push signals an attempt to influence not only broad policy but also the everyday behaviour of consumers and producers. For a cultural organisation like the RSS, whose power often lies in shaping public sentiment, this alignment with the government’s agenda offers a unique moment of synergy.
The Political and Economic Trade-Offs
The benefits of such alignment are clear:
- Domestic industry gains support. Small and medium enterprises may benefit from increased consumer preference for local products.
- Political capital grows. The government can channel nationalist sentiment, framing self-reliance as both economic wisdom and patriotic duty.
- RSS strengthens its influence. Decades of ideological advocacy finally find practical policy reflection, giving the organisation greater relevance in modern India.
However, the risks are equally apparent:
- Higher costs for consumers. Protectionism can drive up prices, as domestic goods may lack the economies of scale and efficiency of global competitors.
- Risk to innovation. Without foreign competition, local industries may stagnate, reducing incentives for innovation and quality improvement.
- Complex supply chains. Even “Indian” products often rely on foreign inputs, making pure swadeshi difficult in practice.
In other words, while tariffs abroad give political justification for swadeshi at home, the long-term economic impacts are far from certain.
A Global Shift Towards Nationalism
The convergence of Trump’s protectionism and the RSS’s swadeshi vision underscores a broader global trend. Across many nations, there is growing suspicion of globalisation, a revival of economic nationalism, and a push to prioritise domestic resilience over international integration.
For India, this raises a critical question: can the country pursue self-reliance without isolating itself from the global economy? The government hopes that its strategy of dual circulation will allow it to walk this fine line — encouraging local strength while maintaining foreign investment and trade ties.
An Unlikely Beneficiary
What makes this moment remarkable is that the RSS, an organisation rooted in cultural and ideological nationalism, now finds its economic vision gaining ground not through domestic political debate, but as an indirect consequence of US tariffs. The very pressures meant to safeguard American jobs are enabling India’s most influential cultural organisation to see its swadeshi ideals reflected in state policy.
The trajectory is far from settled. Much will depend on whether Indian industries can rise to the challenge, whether consumers are willing to embrace swadeshi even at higher costs, and whether global investors continue to see India as an attractive destination. But one thing is certain: in the shifting sands of global trade politics, the RSS has found an unlikely ally in Trump’s tariffs.
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