- Monday, March 10, 2025
During his presidential election campaign, Trump proposed a 60 per cent tariff on goods from China – and a tariff of up to 20 per cent on every other US import
By: Shajil Kumar
CHINA is trying to improve ties with India in an attempt to ease pressure from the incoming Trump administration, the head of a top India-centric US business advocacy and strategic group said on Tuesday.
During his presidential election campaign, Trump proposed a 60 per cent tariff on goods from China – and a tariff of up to 20 per cent on every other US import.
Mukesh Aghi, president of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), said: “So, we are seeing an early impact of the Trump administration coming in that has created pressure on China to ease dealing with India. So that’s why border patrolling has been agreed upon. Direct flights have been agreed upon.”
“They will also issue more visas to Chinese coming to India. You are seeing the impact of Trump coming in having a positive impact on the India-China relationship,” he further said.
Last month, India announced that it had reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, in a breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff.
“The calculation on the part of the Chinese was that Trump was coming in. The relationship with the US will get stressful. So, why have multiple fronts of this stressful relationship? ‘Let’s at least ease the partnership or potential relationship with India itself’,” Aghi told PTI in an interview.
India is likely to play an important role in Trump’s “America First” policy by offering a place for secure sourcing while the new administration plans to move manufacturing away from China and create jobs in the US, he added.
“Efforts by the Trump administration to put in tariffs so it can put pressure on companies to move manufacturing back to the US, it’s not going to happen overnight. It took almost 40 years for manufacturing to move out of the US. The challenge we have is we don’t have enough skills. We don’t have enough manpower to help us from that perspective. So, the transition will take time,” Aghi said.
“That’s where India can play a pivotal role by saying, ‘Yes, we’ll help you move manufacturing back to the US, but we will also manufacture a lot of these components in India’ and they become part of the global supply chain.
“It helps you because you’re not dependent geopolitically on a risk factor in China but you depend on a friend. I see the concept of secure sourcing becoming much more pivotal and stronger than outsourcing or friend-shoring itself,” the USISPF boss added.
“You will see India’s role becoming much more pivotal as you look at building America first. At the same time, Atmanirbhar Bharat also within that supply chain becomes very critical,” he said.
Thaw in ties
Weeks after the troops pullout, India and China have decided to soon convene a meeting of their Special Representatives on the boundary question after a gap of nearly five years and inched closer to the resumption of direct flights as well as Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage.
The next steps in India-China ties with a broader objective to stabilise the relationship figured prominently in talks between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro late Monday.
The two ministers felt that it was imperative that the focus should be on stabilising ties, managing differences and taking the next steps, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
It was the first high-level engagement between the two sides after the completion of the disengagement process in Depsang and Demchok along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. (PTI)
