The United States’ decision to levy 50% tariffs on Indian imports came into effect on August 27, creating significant concerns for both the Indian economy and government. Several industries — many of them labour-intensive and heavily dependent on the U.S. as a key export market — are already witnessing a slowdown in demand. Recognising this, the government is working on short-term support measures for affected sectors.

The severity of the tariff impact can be assessed by considering three factors together:

1. The absolute value of exports to the U.S.,

2. The share of the U.S. in a sector’s total global exports, and

3. The final tariff rate applicable.

If all three indicators are high, the sector faces greater stress; conversely, if the U.S. market accounts for only a small share of total exports, the disruption is limited.

Sectors facing heavy impact

• Shrimp: India exported shrimp worth $2.4 billion to the U.S. in 2024–25, which was 32.4% of its global exports. Earlier, Indian shrimp faced a 10% tariff, but with the new hike, the effective rate stands at 60%. Shrimp prices in Andhra Pradesh, the main producing state, have already fallen by 20% after the earlier August 7 tariff of 25%, and are expected to decline further.

• Gems and Jewellery: Exports of diamonds, gold, and jewellery to the U.S. were $10 billion (40% of sectoral exports). Tariffs have jumped from 2.1% to 52.1%, leading to production cuts in hubs like Surat, where the diamond-polishing industry employs about 1.2 million workers.

• Textiles and Apparel: Valued at $10.8 billion, with apparel alone at $5.4 billion, India’s textile exports to the U.S. are highly vulnerable since the U.S. accounts for 35% of India’s apparel exports. Tariffs have soared from 13.9% to 63.9%. Reports suggest exporters in Tiruppur, Noida-Gurugram, Ludhiana, and Bengaluru are facing severe strain — from shipment rushes and frozen expansions to job cuts.

• Carpets: With $1.2 billion exports to the U.S. (58.6% of global carpet exports), tariffs have risen from 2.9% to 52.9%, hitting weavers and artisans hard.

• Other affected industries include handicrafts, footwear, furniture, and farm goods like basmati rice, tea, spices, pulses, and sesame.

Sectors moderately impacted

• Organic Chemicals: Exports worth $2.7 billion to the U.S. (13.2% of total exports) now face a 54% tariff (up from 4%). Industry bodies such as CHEMEXCIL have already sought government intervention.

• Metals (Steel, Aluminium, Copper): Exports of $4.7 billion (17% of total Indian metal exports) are at risk. While the U.S. is not the biggest market, it is critical for SMEs in Delhi-NCR’s engineering hubs and eastern foundries. Tariffs could severely affect jobs in stainless steel, aluminium casting, and copper processing.

• Machinery and Mechanical Appliances: Exports stood at $6.7 billion (20% of sectoral exports). This segment too is expected to experience weaker U.S. demand due to higher tariffs

Life of Stars

• Though stars appear to shine eternally, they too have lifetimes determined by their mass and internal processes. Some endure for billions of years, while others exist for much shorter spans.
• The survival of a star depends on a balance between two opposing forces: the inward pull of gravity and the outward push generated by nuclear fusion at its core.
• As hydrogen around the core ignites in a thin shell, energy from this “shell burning” pushes the star’s outer layers outward. This causes the star to expand into a red giant—a cooler star on the surface but far brighter and larger in size.
• Eventually, when fusion can no longer continue, the star sheds its outer layers, creating a glowing planetary nebula. The core remains as a white dwarf—a dense, Earth-sized remnant made mostly of carbon and oxygen. Roughly 95% of stars in galaxies like the Milky Way meet this fate.
• More massive stars, however, reach core temperatures high enough to fuse heavier elements—carbon, oxygen, silicon—until they produce iron. At this stage, the physics shifts: iron fusion consumes energy rather than releasing it.
• With no outward pressure to resist gravity, the core collapses rapidly, forming either a neutron star or, if sufficiently massive, a black hole.
• Some neutron stars spin extremely fast and emit bursts of high-energy radiation; these are called pulsars, flashing gamma and X-rays every few milliseconds

Brown Dwarfs – The “Failed Stars”

• A study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society reported the discovery of a unique quadruple star system involving brown dwarfs.
• Brown dwarfs are objects that form in the same way as stars—from collapsing clouds of gas and dust—but lack the mass needed to sustain continuous hydrogen fusion. Because they cannot shine like normal stars, they are often referred to as “failed stars.”
• They share some traits with gas giants such as Jupiter and Saturn, including thick atmospheres with clouds and molecules like water vapour. Despite being star-like, they can be up to 70 times heavier than Jupiter.
• Since they are relatively faint and cool, brown dwarfs are hard to detect directly. Astronomers often find them when they orbit brighter companion stars. Studying them in such systems is useful, because the stars and dwarfs usually formed together from the same material under similar conditions.
• The newly discovered system contains two brown dwarfs, each about the size of Jupiter, and a pair of young red dwarfs—the most common type of stars in our galaxy. While the brown dwarfs emit almost no visible light, the red dwarfs shine much brighter, making the system easier to study.
• Brown dwarfs are of great scientific importance: they help researchers understand the boundary between star and planet formation. Their population and distribution also provide insights into the universe’s mass balance.
• This is especially significant given that a large portion of cosmic mass remains unseen, existing as dark matter