Karnataka IT minister expresses concern over US tariffs; says Centre must act fast
New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI): Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge on Friday expressed concern over the US decision to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports, warning that it could undermine the country's competitiveness against emerging rivals like Vietnam.
He urged the Centre to take swift and decisive action to protect the country's interests, including in electronics manufacturing ecosystem.
The remark comes at a time when Karnataka - already a thriving hub for innovation and technology - is seeking to expand its footprint in high-end electronics manufacturing with players like Apple suppliers Foxconn and Tata Electronics.
US President Donald Trump this week announced the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from India.
For now, the Indian electronics industry remains insulated, a short two-week breather from the proposed tariffs is due to the pending review of a key section (Section 232 relates to impact of the products on national security). The industry, however, worries that Made-in-India products could become costlier if tariff exemption were to end.
Kharge told PTI in an interview: "This (issue of US tariffs) requires a lot more deep dive because it has been 24 hours since the US has announced these trade tariffs. But I think this is something that the Government of India seriously needs to look at."
He highlighted the competitive challenges India faces against competing nations like Vietnam, now with these tariffs.
"If you look at the people whom we are competing at the global scale as a country, it is with Vietnam and China, Indonesia, and we are the highest in Asia...Vietnam is at 20 per cent," he said.
Kharge emphasised the limitations of state governments in addressing global trade issues and called upon the Centre to assess and strengthen its policy response to safeguard India's interests.
"So quite naturally, it will have some sort of bearing. And this is something that the state governments cannot do alone. And we are willing to support the central government in whatever way we can. But the point remains...a massive miscalculation of policies by the central government..," Kharge said.
Stating that "so-called proximity" with US had not yielded any results for India, Kharge said: "in fact, it has become quite devastating for smaller manufacturers as well. So, this is something that I think the central government needs to pull up, get their act together on".
Kharge said it's only natural for countries to protect their own ecosystems, and as the US pushes its 'Make America Great Again' agenda, India too must safeguard its industries.
"Look, quite naturally, everybody will protect their ecosystem. While the President of the United States will try the MAGA slogan of 'Make America Great Again', we need to protect ecosystems as well," he said.
Geographical boundaries have become almost non-existent, due to factors like technology, cost of labour, cost of production, innovation. The cost of servicing the entire supply chain is very important, Kharge noted.
"And the strides that we have made in Karnataka or for India, we stand to lose if we don't solve this problem, early on. And I think, like I said, again, at the cost of sounding repetitive, central government should get its act together on this. Yes, it's going to have some sort of effect on the bigger manufacturers... the supply chain is very important," he said.
He said it is still too early to assess the response of the entire ecosystem.
"So we'll have to wait-and-watch and see before I can comment anything on the entire ecosystem... It's just not about Apple or about Foxconn. It's just not about their OEMs. We are manufacturing on scale for various components across sectors, whether it is smartphones, semiconductors or space tech. And I think we should see this ecosystem as a whole and not for one particular company," Kharge said.
Asked if the state government is in touch with electronics manufacturing companies and technology players to track their thinking and their next course of action, he said: "We have spoken to a few people. And of course, they're also a little uncertain, rather, and they don't want to have any knee-jerk reactions for whatever the American government has to say".
"So I think everybody is just waiting and watching what central government will do..," he said.
Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook has cautioned that the situation around tariffs is "evolving", and that for June quarter, the company incurred about USD 800 million of tariff-related costs.
During the Q3 FY2025 earnings, Cook said: "For the September quarter, assuming the current global tariff rates, policies, and applications do not change for the balance of the quarter, and no new tariffs are added, we estimate the impact to add about USD 1.1 billion to our costs. This estimate should not be used to make projections for future quarters, as there are many factors that could change, including tariff rates."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
ICC right to pull up Pakistan for boycotting Indo-Pak fixture: Rajeev Shukla
New Delhi (PTI): BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Monday said the the International Cricket Council (ICC) was right in warning Pakistan of severe repercussions for its selective pullout from the high-profile T20 World Cup contest against India in Colombo on February 15.
Pakistan's decision, conveyed through an official government statement, is being seen as a political protest linked to Bangladesh's removal from the tournament after the world body declined its request to shift matches from India to Sri Lanka on security grounds.
The ICC has already warned Pakistan Cricket Board the a boycott of the marquee fixture could lead to punitive sanctions and said that the decision is not in the interest of the the game in general.
"The ICC has issued a big statement on this subject. It has highlighted element of sportsmanship. We completely agree with the ICC. BCCI will not make any comment until we speak to the ICC," Shukla told reporters here.
The raging controversy was sparked by Bangladesh pacer's Mustafizur Rahman's ouster from the IPL on instructions of the BCCI for unspecified reasons. Bangladesh refused to travel to India after that citing security concerns.
Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor said the game can't be held to ransom like the way it is being at the moment.
"It is pretty disgraceful that sport has been politicised in this way on both sides, frankly. I don't think that Mustafizur (Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman) should have been denied his contract to play in Kolkata. It was most unfortunate intrusion of politics," Tharoor told reporters.
"I think the Bangladeshi reaction was an overreaction but it is also a reflection of the same and Pakistan is trying to show its solidarity with Bangladesh. This whole thing is spiralling out of control.
"I honestly think this is now a wake up call for all concerned to contact each other on an emergency basis, the ICC could be the platform for it - just say, let's call off this nonsense...You can't go on like this forever," he said.
The India-Pakistan clash is the most anticipated fixture of any ICC event, drawing peak global viewership, sponsorship interest and broadcast revenues.
The host broadcaster could incur advertisement revenue losses which could be anything in the range of Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore for a marquee game whose 10 second commercial slot can cost up to Rs 40 lakh.
While a walkover would hand full points to India, the ICC retains the authority to impose financial penalties on the PCB.
To get a walkover, the opposition team needs to be present on the ground for the coin toss.
The Indian team will therefore travel to Sri Lanka and Suryakumar Yadav will be walking out for the toss. Once Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha doesn't appear, the match referee will award a walkover and two points to India.
There could also be a host of sanctions awaiting Pakistan, including docking of WTC points, no movement in ICC rankings, top member nations refusing to travel there and last but not the least -- sanctions on participation of players in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Pakistan are scheduled to open their campaign against the Netherlands on February 7, followed by matches against USA on February 10 and Namibia on February 18. All their matches will be played at the SSC ground in Colombo.
