India should walk out of the India-US interim trade deal: Ajay Srivastava

4 months ago 61

India should walk out of the India-US interim trade deal: Ajay Srivastava, Founder, Global Trade Research Initiative, to Karan Thapar for The Wire. ......................................... In an interview to discuss the implications and consequences of the United States Supreme Court striking down President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and his decision to impose 15% global tariffs on all goods from all counties, the Founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative and one of India’s most highly regarded trade analysts says that India should now walk out of the India-US interim trade agreement. Ajay Srivastava said India should now invoke the clause of the joint statement that permits it to modify its commitments if the other country changes its tariffs. He said: “India should invoke this clause and India should write to the US that everything on which this deal was premised is gone now. So what’s the justification for the special concessions from India? India should use this clause and come out of the agreement altogether … there’s no logic for the agreement. I think the same way will be adopted by the other countries that have entered agreements. We are lucky that the agreement is not yet implemented. We are just in the talking phase, despite the joint statement. 50% has not yet been reduced to 18%. So agreement has not been implemented yet from any side. US side or Indian side. So we are in lucky phase that we are not walking out of an implemented agreement. You will see that countries where the agreement has been implemented, they will also be walking out.” In this interview many other issues are discussed by Mr. Srivastava. He talks about the powers that Trump has to try and reimpose reciprocal tariffs if he should so choose and how they are very limited and will not serve his purpose. He talks about the global tariffs imposed under Section 122 of the US Trade Act of 1974 and how it’s possible this too could be, in due course, struck down by the US courts. Basically, he believes that the 15% global tariffs face an uncertain future. Mr. Srivastava also talks about the loss of comparative trade advantage over competitor countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Thailand now that the reciprocal tariffs have been scrapped. Mr. Srivastava addresses the possibility that if India seeks to modify or scrap the India-US trade deal this could provoke Trump’s wrath. His position is it doesn’t matter if it does. That should not deter us. Finally, Mr. Srivastava addresses the question that given that it was widely believed the Supreme Court would declare Trump’s tariffs illegal, India should have waited till the Supreme Court verdict was known before agreeing to the joint statement. In this connection, he points out that Trump has lost the power to impose tariff penalties if India continues to buy Russian oil and, therefore, India is now free to do so without fear that Trump could reimpose the recently removed 25% penalty. I will stop there. There’s a lot in this interview you should see for yourself. If you want to understand the situation and circumstances India faces after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs and he, in their place, imposed global tariffs then you should see this interview. Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWtJey46brNr7qHQpN6KLQ/join

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