India, Sept. 18 -- Until US President Donald Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs in April this year and then went on to impose a massive additional 50% - it includes an unfair 25% tariff on account of India's import of Russian crude oil even though both China and Europe, bigger buyers of Russian energy, do not face any such tariff - India's policy focus was on export promotion. Exports were listed as one of the 10 key areas flagged in the 2025-26 Union Budget which also announced an Export Promotion Mission. Things have changed drastically in the aftermath of the tariffs imposed by the US, which is India's largest export market and accounts for one-fifth of total merchandise exports. Any economic strategy that wants to promote exports has to first ensure that exporters suffer minimal damage. To be sure, India and the US have revived talks for a larger trade deal, and the climate seems to have improved, at least from early September. It is in this context that HT's report about the government planning to frontload a part of the export promotion scheme announced in the budget to cushion exporters hit by US tariffs is important. While the details are still being worked out, this newspaper has reported that the programme will include both fiscal and non-fiscal (credit-related) measures, and a part of it could be targeted at protecting exporting firms from falling into crisis because of the immediate hit of the tariffs. Another part of the scheme will focus on long-term trade promotion and filling wider policy gaps going above and beyond simple mitigation from the US tariffs. Prioritising mitigation and preparing for long-term growth is indeed a sensible strategy at this juncture. The impact of US tariffs is likely to be broad-based, and the affected parties could very well involve more than one layer of producers. These linkages must be kept in mind while designing and providing the support package. Last but not least, the ultimate relief could come not from fiscal or monetary packages, but from striking a deal with the US and expediting mutually beneficial trade deals with other important trading partners....