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."
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Slain Australia beach shooting suspect native of Hyderabad: T'gana police
Hyderabad/Melbourne (PTI): Sajid Akram, the 50-year-old slain suspect in a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia, was an Indian citizen hailing from Hyderabad, Telangana Police revealed on Tuesday.
While he had migrated to Australia 27 years ago, Akram carried an Indian passport. Akram, along with his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, recently travelled to the Philippines on an Indian passport.
Akram, one of the two suspects in the mass shooting that has left 15 people dead and dozens injured, migrated to Australia in 1998 and had limited contact with his family here since then, the Telangana DGP's office said in a statement.
"Sajid Akram (50) is originally from Hyderabad, India. He completed his B.Com degree in Hyderabad and migrated to Australia in search of employment, approximately 27 years ago, in November 1998," it said.
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He married a European-origin woman before settling permanently in Australia. The couple have one son, Naveed (the second suspect who is in custody at a hospital in Australia) and one daughter, it said.
Naveed and Akram's daughter were born in Australia and are citizens of that country, the statement said.
On Tuesday, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett described the mass shooting as "a terrorist attack inspired by the Islamic State."
According to Australian authorities, the suspects were a father and son, aged 50 and 24. The older man, who was identified as Sajid Akram, was shot dead.
The Telangana police said Akram visited India on six occasions after migrating to Australia, primarily for family-related reasons such as property matters and to meet his elderly parents.
It is understood that he did not travel to India even at the time of his father's demise, the statement said.
The family members have further expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation, police said.
"The factors that led to the radicalisation of Sajid Akram and his son, Naveed, appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana," Telangana police said.
Telangana Police further said it has no adverse record against Akram during his stay in India before his departure in 1998.
The state police said it remains committed to cooperating with central agencies and other counterparts, as and when required, and urged the public and media to avoid speculation or attribution without verified facts.
Quoting security sources, Australia's ABC News reported that Akram and Naveed travelled to the Philippines to receive "military-style training".
"Investigators are now examining the Akrams' ties to an international jihadist network, after discovering the pair travelled to Manila in early November," it said, quoting officials briefed on the investigation.
The Philippines Bureau of Immigration confirmed the pair arrived in the Philippines from Australia on November 1, declaring the southern city of Davao - a hotbed for Islamic militants since the 1990s - as their destination, it said.
"They left the country on November 28, 2025, on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila, with Sydney as their final destination," ABC News quoted the Philippines' Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval as saying.
Sandoval said Akram entered the country on an Indian passport, while his son, Naveed, entered on an Australian passport.
In the Philippines, Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office and Press Officer for Malacanang Palace Claire Castro said that the National Security Council (NSC) is currently looking into reports that the father and son duo travelled to the country a month before the attack.
