This article is created to be informative to the reader on the current state of India’s negotiations with the Trump administration based on the most recent wave of tariffs coming from the White House. In a recent press conference, India’s Union Minister, Piyush Goyal, said in response to questions about trade negotiations with the United States that India would be making decisions on their own time with a focus on their national interests and would not have their hand moved by the United States. He stated that India was prepared to accept tariffs from the United States in favor of creating a less interdependent economy stating, “we’re looking at newer markets, we’re looking at a stronger demand impetus within the Indian economy. So we have a very resilient structure,” The article explains that these are in reference to discussion to decrease what is currently a 50% tariff on Indian goods to the US as well as a 25% tariff on some goods due to Indian and Russian oil trade with the White House arguing that they are supporting the war in Ukraine to continue. Despite this both countries have expressed interest in improving economic relations with a goal of $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.
I think that this article is very important for keeping people up to date on the relationships of India economically because, especially with the inclusion of tariffs, these potential trade deals would impact the economic wellbeing of many citizens in India. Especially those related to manufacturing or other heavy export industries. I think that this response, as well as the response from countries like China to White House tariffs could encourage other nearby states in the region, many of whom are susceptible to US economic pressure given their size and interdependency, to stand up to the United States against these new tariffs.
Right now the two main stakeholders, the US and India are in a pretty neutral position so I think that in terms of the US it would not be a good course of action to continue to jack up tariffs in hopes of pressuring India as that would likely simply lead India to return pressure on the US and would almost certainly create a kneejerk reaction. I think for India the best step is to take their time when negotiating with the US though I think in the end this would benefit them to create and promote even more formal trade with the US.
I think that this most prominently connects to the concept of power and the use of the US hard power through economic sanctions. I think that in recent months the US has actually seen a sharp decline in hard power which is evidenced by instances like this where countries, outside of just China and Russia, are pushing back against sanctions and tariffs. Additionally this exemplifies a larger shift by certain countries away from interdependence in favor of economic independence.