US President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed multi-country tariffs are an opportunity for India, senior NITI Aayog officials said on Wednesday. While these tariffs, if imposed, will be a shock to global trade in the short term, they will give India an opportunity to increase its share in global supply chains, NITI Aayog member Arvind Virmani said at a press conference.
During the election campaign, Trump called India “the largest collector of tariffs” and promised to reciprocate if re-elected as the US president. Last week, Trump said he would impose tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada on the first day of his presidency, but did not mention India. Trump will head the White House on January 20, 2025. On Saturday, Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on exports from BRICS countries to the US if those countries try to replace the dollar as their trading currency.
“There will be huge obstacles because of tariffs, it’s US trade, but there will be huge opportunities,” said BVR Subrahmanyam, chief executive officer of NITI Aayog. “We got it wrong at first, the ball is going our way and the question is whether we can actually prepare ourselves.”
Subrahmanyam said the US tariffs could lead to a “massive boom” as such tariffs would divert trade. “How we’re going to catch it is the big question,” he said at the launch of a report by think tank Trade Watch Quarterly. “I think that’s something that we’re all focused on, very, very concerned about, and I think we’ll see some steps in the next few months,” Subrahmanyam said.
Morgan Stanley said last week that a 10% increase in tariffs on US imports from India could reduce the South Asian nation’s GDP growth by about 30 basis points.
