IKEA to raise its India sourcing to 50% from 30%
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
Stockholm: Swedish major IKEA will raise its sourcing from India to 50% from 30% now, Benjamin Dausa , Sweden's minister for international development cooperation and foreign trade said Wednesday. He called upon both India and the European Union to forge a trade agreement that focuses not just on tariff barriers but also on non-tariff barriers.Addressing a joint session of industry leaders from India and Sweden, Dausa said India can become an increasingly "trusted manufacturing" and the prospect of a trade deal between the European Union and India represents an incredible opportunity.In an "unstable world" both are partners who will complement each other and be resilient together, he said at a session jointly organised by CII and Confederation of Swedish Enterprises in Stockholm."IKEA has communicated their ambition to amplify sourcing locally from India to 50% for its global operations, from the current 30%," Dausa said, citing the company's example to highlight the importance of the Indian market for Swedish companies. The Swedish furniture company entered in India in 2018.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Donald Trump to set unilateral tariff rates for trading partners within two weeks, ‘Can take it or leave it'
United States President Donald Trump on June 11 said he intends to send letters to trading partners within the next week or two setting unilateral tariff rates, according to a Bloomberg report. The move will come ahead of a July 9 deadline to reimpose higher duties on severeal countries, it added. Speaking to reporters, Donald Trump said, 'At a certain point, we're just going to send letters out. And I think you understand that, saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it.' When reporters questioned if countries would get more time to make trade deals before the higher tariffs start, the US president said he would be open to it, but 'But I don't think we're gonna have that necessity'. While Donald Trump had initially said he would engage in talks with each country, the US strategy has since moved towards prioritising key economic partners with the administration acknowledging that it lacks the capacity to negotiate dozens of individual deals, the report said. While deals with China and the United Kingdom have had extensive discussions and 'near' completion, Trump's team is working to secure bilateral deals with India, Japan, South Korea and the European Union. Also speaking to reporters on June 11, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that a deal with the EU is likely to be among the last to be completed, expressing frustration with conducting talks with a 27-nation bloc. At present it is unclear if Donald Trump will follow through with his intent as he has often set two-week deadlines only for dates to be postponed or for the matter to be dropped, the report noted. Notably, on May 29, a reporter invited Donald Trump ire by asking his opinion on Wall Street dubbing his tariffs plan as TACO i.e. Trump Always Chickens Out — mocking the US president's frequent tariff impositions and subsequent reductions, followed by waivers. A visibly offended Donald Trump went on a defensive rant: 'Don't ever say what you said. To me, that's the nastiest question.' In April, the US president announced higher tariffs for dozens of trading partners, and then paused action for 90 days. Then, on May 16, Donald Trump said he would be setting tariff rates for US trading partners 'over the next two to three weeks'. Till date (June 11 last), the only trade framework the US has reached is with the UK, along with a shaky tariff truce with China. First coined by The Financial Times' Robert Armstrong, the term 'TACO' has been picked up for use by Wall Street traders, who see large sell-offs each time Donald Trump's tariffs are announced, followed by recovery when the demand is cut down or removed. (With inputs from Bloomberg)
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Mystery Aussie from Sydney bags entire $100m Powerball jackpot, gets tax office warning
Lottery officials' advise to winner Live Events Australian Taxation Office issues warning (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A search is underway for the Australian who has won Powerball's entire $100m jackpot. Sydneysiders are being urged to check their tickets as the numbers were revealed. According to media reports, the winning numbers in Thursday night's (June 12) draw 1517 were 28, 10, 3, 16, 31, 14 and 21 and the Powerball was to Lottery officials, the individual winner from Sydney claimed the whole division one prize but might not even know it, because they weren't registered and hadn't come forward. "There are 100 million reasons why all Sydney players who had an entry in this week's draw should check their ticket as soon as possible," The Lott spokesperson Matt Hart said in a statement, according to media Lott spokesperson advised the winner to call 131 868 as soon as possible to start claiming their prize. "Someone has become an overnight midweek multi-millionaire but possibly doesn't know it yet," he said. "We can't wait for them to discover this winning news! Just imagine how $100 million might change your life and the lives of your nearest and dearest."Only six people in Australia have won a lotto prize of this size previously, 9 News reported. Another 3,056,245 winning entries across the other divisions took home more than $60 million in Thursday night's Australian Taxation Office (ATO) warned about the potential implications of winning the lottery after one lucky person walked away as the sole jackpot the country closes in on tax time there are a few stipulations worth considering as to how a huge sum of cash like this can affect the winner. "You don't need to declare your winnings to us, and you won't pay tax on them," the tax office said, according to Yahoo Finance. "But, any interest earned on the winnings will need to be included in your assessable income."In the case of the sole winner of the jackpot, if the amount is kept sitting in a savings account with a 5 percent interest rate, an income of around $5 million will be generated in just one year. Come tax time next year, the lottery winner would have to pay tax on that big amount of money.
Economic Times
an hour ago
- Economic Times
With the US slapping tariffs around, international trade is like the Wild West now: Gene M. Grossman
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The WTO system got blown up starting with the first Trump administration when many appellate body judges stepped down — since every major country can veto appointments, the US vetoed all replacements. That stopped the adjudication of disputes. Currently, many countries — some led by the US — see fit to do what they want and don't abide by WTO agreements . Gene M. Grossman is Jacob Viner Professor of International Economics at Princeton University. Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das, he discusses trade — in the time of Trumpian tariffs:A. I am an international trade economist. I've worked over 46 years on various aspects of trade, from the relationship between it and the environment to links between trade and growth, outsourcing, political economy and the effects of trade policy A. There was a focus on supply chain disturbances as a result of the pandemic — that event made those concerns very salient and there was a lot of thought about how to make supply chains more resilient. This was the topic du jour until the US Presidential election — that turned everything on its head. Now, we are all talking about tariffs.A. No. The US has benefitted enormously from international trade. This is an international regime we set up to serve many of our goals, some economic, some political. It led to the development of a rules-based system and a great deal of liberalisation and while US trade barriers might be a tiny bit less than those in Europe or Japan, the differences are miniscule. Claims about international trade having been unfair to the US are absurd, in my opinion.A. Earlier, we had a system that wasn't perfect but it worked reasonably well — countries made commitments at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and subscribed to policies of other countries. If someone thought another country wasn't abiding by what they promised, they would take their case to a WTO panel and then, an appellate body and a decision would be made. Countries would be asked to change their policies if these weren't in conformance with what they'd promised. It wasn't perfect — there was perhaps a bit of judicial overreach by appellate judges but, by and large, it did discipline what countries were doing and most nations obeyed those rulings, at times, with some foot-dragging. The whole thing got blown up starting with the first Trump administration when many of the appellate body judges stepped down. Since every major country can veto appointments, the US vetoed all replacements until there were only two judges left — three judges are needed to hear a case, so that stopped the adjudication of Biden also did not overturn that. Currently, many countries, some led by the US, see fit to do what they want and don't abide by any agreements. We see the thinnest veneers of excuses made, including national security, emergencies, etc., with no real effort to show those are operative in several US is now slapping trade policies and tariffs all over the place without any attention to the commitments it made in the WTO — that is the Wild West. There is no will to abide by WTO agreements — the organisation has no enforcing abilities and is reduced to sitting on the sidelines now.A. Trade has been a catalyst for the spread of knowledge around the globe — that's been very beneficial to innovation. The limitations on the movements of people through visa tightening and immigration restrictions, and curbs on the movement of goods, will be detrimental to global growth and innovation.A. It has some grain of truth — and a vast overstatement. All the research points to enormous skill-based technological progress in the US. Trade played a strong role in certain industries and locales and mostly benefitted low-income consumers who tend to buy imported goods more than proportionately. The claim that trade is the cause of adverse trends in income distribution is overstated.A. I wouldn't bet against it. It depends on how these trade policies play out — that is anybody's guess, given how they seem to change every few days. I do see the uncertainty, chaos and volatility that's been created as a hindrance to investment. There will be lowered demand as well once these tariffs do hit prices in the stores. So, I'm concerned about a recession at least in the US. If there is enough cooperation, this could be avoided in other countries — however, when a shock hits the system, nations take steps they think will protect them but collectively, they get harmed. I see Europe building barriers, for instance — that could spread. If I were a betting man, I'd say the chances are 50-50.(Views expressed are personal)
