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The Sun
a day ago
- Business
- The Sun
Trump's new tariffs on India to impact economy, reshape US ties
MUMBAI: US President Donald Trump's decision to impose steep tariffs on Indian exports and penalties for purchasing Russian military equipment and energy will threaten thousands of jobs and potentially redefine US-India relations, analysts said. Months of trade negotiations stalled after Trump demanded greater access to India's agricultural and dairy sectors. Just two days before the deadline for reciprocal tariffs, Trump announced a 25% levy on Indian goods and an unspecified penalty for Russian deals, effective August 1. Kirit Bhansali, Chairman of India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, called the move 'deeply concerning,' warning it would disrupt pricing, delay shipments, and strain the entire supply chain. The US is India's largest market for gems and jewellery, accounting for $10 billion in exports—nearly 30% of the sector's global trade. Indian exports to the US totaled $87.4 billion in 2024, spanning pharmaceuticals, textiles, and electronics. Biswajit Dhar of the Council for Social Development said Trump's approach complicates trade talks, calling the penalty for India's Russia ties 'completely unacceptable for a sovereign state.' Analysts noted the decision marks a shift in US-India relations, previously strengthened as Washington sought New Delhi as a counterbalance to China. Ashok Malik of The Asia Group said Trump's move has damaged years of bipartisan cooperation, calling it the toughest phase in relations since the 1990s. Praveen Donthi of the International Crisis Group warned the tariffs show Trump does not 'differentiate between friends and foes,' potentially pushing India closer to China. - AFP
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Trump's new tariff to impact Indian economy
An attendee holds U.S. and India's flags as they gather on the South Lawn of the White House to watch an official State Arrival ceremony as US President Joe Biden hosts India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a State Visit at the White House in Washington, US, June 22, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS US President Donald Trump's decision to slap harsh tariffs on Indian exports and a "penalty" on purchases of Russian weapons and energy will cost thousands of jobs and could fundamentally change the nature of bilateral ties, experts said Wednesday. Months of negotiations between the two countries over an interim trade deal had stalled in recent weeks over Trump's sweeping demands and New Delhi's reluctance to fully open its agricultural and dairy sectors to US imports. On Wednesday, two days before the deadline for the reintroduction of Trump's so-called "reciprocal tariffs", the US president announced that Indian shipments to the United States would be hit with a 25 percent tariff. He added that an unspecified "penalty" for acquiring military equipment and oil from Russia would also kick in from August 1. Kirit Bhansali, Chairman of India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said the move was a "deeply concerning development" that would have "far-reaching repercussions across India's economy" and threaten "thousands of livelihoods". For his sector alone, the United States is India's "single largest market, accounting for over $10 billion in exports -- nearly 30 percent of our industry's total global trade," he said. "A blanket tariff of this magnitude will inflate costs, delay shipments, distort pricing, and place immense pressure on every part of the value chain — from small karigars (artisans) to large manufacturers," he added. "We recognise the need to address trade imbalances, but such extreme measures undermine decades of economic cooperation." Indian goods exports to the United States amounted to $87.4 billion in 2024, according to US data, with top sectors including pharmaceuticals, gems, textiles and smartphones. Trump's targeting of India with such a high rate of levies would complicate ongoing negotiations for a more comprehensive trade agreement, said Biswajit Dhar, of the Council for Social Development think tank.
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
India stuck to TRIPS and domestic law in UK deal, says official amid drug access concerns
India has not gone beyond the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement or domestic law in the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)-related deal with the UK, a senior government official said on Saturday after trade experts raised concerns stating that India had moved away from its conventional position on IPR in the UK trade deal. The 'Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment' and trade experts pointed out that the UK deal has provisions tilting in favour of patent holders since they bring the issuance of compulsory licences — a critical tool to ensure access to affordable life-saving medicines — under greater scrutiny and constraints. 'In the IPR chapter, India has not breached the TRIPS agreement and is in compliance with domestic law. Only best practices that do not infringe on domestic laws have been adopted. Sharing of information and several such elements are part of the deal,' the government official said. The Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment is a network of patients, activists and professionals working towards access to affordable medicines in India. It said the UK-India FTA provisions on patents tilt the balance in favour of the patent owner and undermine access to medicines. 'There is a progressive movement towards accepting the demands of FTA partners, which is systematically debasing the public interest safeguards available in the Indian Patents Act. Article 13.6, stating the understandings regarding TRIPS and public health measures, clearly places voluntary mechanisms such as voluntary licensing as the preferred and optimal route to promote access to medicines,' the working group said. Biswajit Dhar, a trade policy expert with the Council for Social Development, said that the provisions in the UK deal favouring voluntary licences leave access to medicines in the hands of market forces and undermine the role of the government in facilitating access. 'Further, it also gives a clear signal to potential compulsory licence applicants that they are not welcome. Often, voluntary licences contain onerous conditions on the licensee and fail to bring sharp price reductions compared to compulsory licences,' Dhar said. 'There are also provisions in the IP chapter which can potentially undermine the safeguards preventing evergreening of patents. Though couched in best endeavour language, there is a provision to 'facilitate the sharing and use of search and examination work of the Parties'. The implementation of this provision would lead to the harmonisation of patentability criteria and undermine safeguards against evergreening, such as Section 3(d) of the Patents Act,' said K M Gopakumar, co-convenor of the Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment. Compared to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) IP chapter, this chapter shows further movement towards strengthening the interests of patent holders at the cost of access to medicines. The implementation of these provisions reduces the ability of the central and state governments to fulfil their constitutional obligation on the right to health, the working group said.
The Hindu
18-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
National Education Policy objective is to build a knowledge-based society, says expert
ICSSR National Fellow and Distinguished Professor at Council for Social Development, New Delhi, Jandhyala B.G. Tilak has said that the core objective of the National Education Policy (NEP) is to provide quality education to all sections of society and building a knowledge-based society. Delivering a special lecture on 'Origins of the National Education Policy' as part of an eight-day online refresher programme 'Perspectives and Sensitivities of the New National Education Policy' organised by the Malaviya Mission Teachers Training Centre of Karnatak University here on Tuesday, Prof. Tilak said that the goal of the NEP is to provide universal education, increase student enrolment in higher education and prioritising skill-based learning. Prof. Tilak also emphasised the need for democratising and decentralising the education system. Elaborating on the evolution of educational policies from 1944 to 2020, Prof. Tilak said that the National Knowledge Commission played a pivotal role in reforming higher education. 'The 1986 policy emphasised industry-based education, while in 2009, the Right to Education Act was implemented, recognising education as a fundamental right for all,' he said. He said that although the field of education has seen considerable progress and is closely linked to social and economic development, still a large number of students discontinue education at primary, undergraduate and higher education levels. Prof. Tilak said that there is a lack of emphasis on technical and professional courses, while regional disparities in access to education persist. This apart, school education also faces several challenges that require urgent solutions. Emphasising that declining quality in education is a matter of serious concern, Prof. Tilak pointed out the need for integration and comprehensiveness in higher education. Faculty and researchers, including B.H. Nagoor, Bharati Ganiger, Shilpa Ramanagol, and others attended the session.
Mint
17-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
India needs to assert itself strongly with the US at the bilateral trade talks: Biswajit Dhar
A top Indian trade policy expert says he has never seen the country buckle down to US demands the way it is doing now. "We must respond strongly. We cannot accept whatever the US is thrusting upon us,' Biswajit Dhar, a well-known trade policy expert from the Delhi-based think tank, Council for Social Development, told this reporter. India's recent decision to invoke its right under World Trade Organization (WTO) norms to impose retaliatory tariffs on certain American goods will be among the key issues discussed during trade talks with the US starting May 17, the PTI said, quoting unnamed officials. Describing the move as a 'pragmatic' one, the official clarified that India has not implemented the retaliatory measures yet but has merely reserved the right to do so in accordance with WTO provisions. "My point is that the WTO is hardly the organization it once was. The more important negotiations are going to be at the bilateral trade talks between the two sides scheduled for May 17,' Dhar, a former Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU and Director General of Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a think-tank under the Ministry of External Affairs, said. "I don't see why India is under pressure. It is our market we are dealing with,'' he asserted. Raising New Delhi's hackles, President Donald Trump said on Thursday that India has offered to eliminate tariffs on the United States as part of a potential trade deal. 'India is the highest — one of the highest tariff nations in the world. It's very hard to sell into India, and they've offered us a deal where, basically, they're willing to literally charge us no tariff,' Trump said during a roundtable with business leaders in Doha, Qatar. India reacted swiftly, saying the talks were not complete. Foreign minister S. Jaishankar said talks were ongoing, calling negotiations between New Delhi and Washington 'complicated' and 'intricate.' 'These are very complicated negotiations. They are very intricate. Nothing is decided till… everything is,' he told reporters in Delhi, within hours of the US President's claims. Just days earlier, the US and China announced a dramatic descalation after a battle of attrition in the tariff war between the world's two biggest economies. After Beijing hit back with retaliatory tariffs and disrupted US access to rare earth metals, the US blinked first. US tariffs on Chinese goods were slashed from 145% to 30%. "We need to borrow from the Chinese playbook,' Dhar said. Asked how the US could react to retaliatory tariffs by India, he said it is imperative that New Delhi put forward its points forcefully. In the past, India has taken similar steps, including notifications submitted to the WTO in 2019 and 2021 regarding the European Union's steel safeguard measures, although those retaliatory actions have not been enforced. India and the US are working towards a comprehensive trade agreement aimed at significantly increasing bilateral trade, which currently stands at $191 billion. The goal is to push this figure to $500 billion by 2030. This crucial round of trade talks will take place in Washington, with a high-level Indian delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. The four-day negotiations, starting May 17, will involve meetings with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
