Too early to comment on US tariff changes; commerce ministry reviewing situation: Sitharaman
New Delhi (PTI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said it is too early to comment on the tariff changes announced by the United States, and the Commerce Ministry is reviewing the situation.
On Friday, the US Supreme Court gave a verdict against the sweeping import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on trade partners.
Following the ruling, President Donald Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all countries, including India, for 150 days from February 24. Later on Saturday, Trump announced raising these tariffs to 15 per cent.
Asked about the impact of tariff changes on the Indian economy, Sitharaman said it is "a bit too soon" to comment.
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"But on the trade, particularly, aside from the Indian economy in general, the commerce ministry is reviewing the situation. The delegation will have to take a call on when they are going to go for further negotiations. So, it's a bit too early for me (to comment)," Sitharaman said.
On Sunday, India and the US decided to reschedule the proposed meeting of their chief negotiators, scheduled to be held in Washington from Monday, to finalise the text for the interim trade pact, according to sources.
Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, Darpan Jain, is the chief negotiator of India for this agreement.
Talking to reporters after addressing the RBI's Central Board here, Sitharaman said India has been on a very clear path of wanting to have trade deals and has already inked pacts with Australia, New Zealand, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, the EU and the UK.
"So, therefore, our attempt to have a trade agreement will go on with countries, " she said, adding that India wants the economy to have the advantage of trading globally and being able to reach global markets.
Speaking on the issue, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, "The government has now a number of agreements for international trade that it has signed. So, that will help our current account even further going forward".
Even on the capital side, he said, it will help because trade and investments generally go together.
Over and above that, a number of policies that the government has come out on the FDI side, the latest being opening up 100 per cent insurance sector and commitment towards data centres, would help boost investment, he said.
"We have sufficient reserves. So, the external side is very strong, including the rest of the macroeconomic sector is very strong," he said.
With regard to setting up the National Financial Information Registry (NFIR), Malhotra said, "We have had multiple rounds of discussion with the government and with all the stakeholders and most of the contours and the framework of the NFIR have been finalised. We are giving final touches in the RBI".
After having done that, he said, the RBI will send its proposals, comments, and suggestions to the government.
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Union government assumes full control over TV ratings, TRAI role curtailed: Report
New Delhi: The Union government has assumed full control over television audience measurement, removing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) from oversight of the ratings system that underpins the country’s ₹36,000 crore television advertising market, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The report in Mint said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) now has exclusive authority over the framework governing how television ratings are measured and regulated. TRAI had been entrusted with oversight of TV ratings in 2012 during the UPA government’s tenure. TRAI is no longer mentioned in the relevant policy document, effectively vesting sole authority in the MIB.
The report said TRAI will continue to regulate other aspects of broadcasting, including channel pricing, advertising caps, interconnection and distribution norms, service quality and compliance standards. Its role in determining how ratings agencies track viewing behaviour has been withdrawn.
Television Rating Points (TRPs), which reflect viewership patterns, guide advertisers in deciding where to allocate spending across channels and time slots.
A government source quoted in the report said the ministry could modify TRAI’s decisions even when the regulator oversaw broadcasting.
A former CEO of Prasar Bharati told the newspaper that the MIB has historically regulated rating agencies through licensing and guidelines, and by holding them accountable under existing norms.
During its tenure overseeing ratings, TRAI had taken decisions affecting the broadcast sector, which included capping advertising time at 12 minutes per hour following complaints about excessive commercial breaks and it now remains unclear how these matters will be addressed under the revised arrangement.
Satya N. Gupta, former principal advisor at TRAI, was quoted as saying that merging regulatory functions with policy oversight and removing an independent regulator from the process was a retrograde step.
TRAI’s involvement in broadcasting had earlier attracted criticism as well. In 2012, its consultation paper on quantitative limits on television advertising was viewed by some as overlapping with the Advertising Standards Council of India’s code. Subsequent recommendations covering television audience measurement, ownership of news channels and issues such as paid news had also raised concerns among sections of the industry.
Television ratings have faced scrutiny in recent years, including during the controversy involving the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), where officials of the ratings body were prosecuted over allegations of manipulation of viewership data.
