Skip to main content

India mulls lower tariffs, more imports to counter Trump’s tariff threat: report

India is evaluating its choices to counter US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats to foes and allies alike, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday, which range from presenting a trade deal, cutting tariffs and importing more goods from the US.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the report stated that the Modi-led government had mapped out several scenarios to counter steps the new US administration “may take to narrow India’s trade surplus with the US which was $35.3 billion for the year ended March 31”.

The US was India’s largest trading partner for the period, according to data from India’s commerce ministry.

“Among the options discussed, the government could buy more whiskey, steel and oil from the US,” Bloomberg said, adding that the officials also discussed decreasing import tariffs, with the list of likely products including “bourbon whiskey and farm goods like pecan nuts”.

Oher proposals under consideration included reducing duties on goods imported from the US deemed as politically important to Trump’s Republican party, the report said.

“The plans under discussion are part of India’s larger strategy to avoid any confrontation with Trump, and also benefit from any potential US-China trade war,” the report elaborated, adding that the plans had not been finalised.

Earlier, Bloomberg News had reported that India was “set to take back at least 18,000 illegal Indian immigrants from the US to help placate the Trump administration”.

India, according to the sources, is also considering “a limited trade deal” with the US, which the Modi administration tried to implement during Trump’s first term.

“The plan under discussion would include reducing some most-favored nation’ tariffs, which are imposed on countries with which India doesn’t have a bilateral trade deal,” the report highlighted.

The report also highlighted that India expected that new US administration to add pressure on issues such as data regulations, intellectual property rules and e-commerce.

According to the report, the Indian officials also discussed how “across the board tariffs” of 10 per cent to 20pc on all countries would help boost India’s exports of auto components and metals.

Additionally, higher tariffs and curbs on access to advanced technology on China could benefit Indian sectors such as electronics, hi-tech machinery, textiles, footwear and chemicals.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/CfV0hkY
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Explainer: Iran’s economy faces rocky road amid rising prices, falling currency

Iran’s economy is going through one of its most difficult periods in years, fueled by sanctions, high inflation, and a significant drop in the value of the national currency, the rial. These pressures have had a direct impact on living standards and have also fueled recent protests. The protests began on Dec. 28 in commercial hubs in the capital Tehran, when shopkeepers, merchants, and small business owners staged strikes and demonstrations to protest soaring inflation, the collapsing rial, and deteriorating economic conditions, and have since grown into nationwide anti-government expressions of discontent involving workers, students, and others across multiple cities. The Iranian president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid the protests. Masoud Pezeshkian said the government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially on the economy. Currency collapse at the centre of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitchell Starc surpasses Wasim Akram as most prolific left-arm pacer in Test history

Australian veteran Mitchell Starc became the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history on Thursday, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The 35-year-old bagged England’s Harry Brook at the Gabba in Brisbane on day one of the day-night second Ashes Test for his 415th wicket since his debut at the same ground 14 years ago. It moved him past Wasim, widely recognised as the greatest left-arm bowler the sport has seen. Wasim played 104 Tests for his 414 wickets with Starc reaching the milestone in his 102nd, helped by a career-best 7-58 in the first innings of the opening Ashes Test at Perth. Starc is now 16th on the all-time wicket-taker list and could move above both India’s Harbhajan Singh (417) and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock (421) in the current pink-ball Test. After that he will have New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (431) in his sights. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/xclHiX2
Post a Comment
Read more