Editor’s Note
This article highlights the potential impact of proposed U.S. tariffs on India’s diamond industry, a key sector for trade and employment. The concerns from Surat, a global polishing hub, underscore how international trade policies can have significant local consequences.
Leaders of the diamond cutting and polishing industry in Surat, known as the Diamond City, fear major repercussions if the US goes ahead with its proposed additional 25% tariff on Indian imports.
The sector is already covered by an existing 25% duty, and industry representatives say another hike could hit both trade and employment.
While the industry has not yet seen an immediate effect, stakeholders say the impact will be felt in the coming weeks. The sector has already been under pressure for the past three years due to a steep fall in demand and prices of both natural and lab-grown diamonds. Sanctions on Russian diamonds, an economic slowdown in key markets such as the US and China, and the growing popularity of lab-grown diamonds (LGD) have deepened the crisis.
Though LGD has provided some employment to artisans, job losses in the natural diamond segment forced the state government to roll out a school fee support scheme for jobless workers.
said Jagdish Khunt, president of the Surat Diamond Association.
The US is India’s largest export market for gems and jewellery, accounting for more than $10 billion annually — about 30% of the country’s global trade. Nearly half of cut and polished diamond exports are sent to the US, with Surat alone employing about 12 lakh workers.
said Bhavesh Tank, vice-president of the Diamond Workers’ Union, Gujarat.
Industry insiders believe the slowdown in trading will soon hit polishing units.
said Balu Vekariya of the Ratna Kalakar Vikas Sangh.