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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PM Modi inaugurates India AI Impact Expo, interacts with startups
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the India AI Impact Expo here featuring over 600 high-potential startups and 13 country pavilions showcasing international collaboration in the AI ecosystem.
He also interacted with startups participating in the expo.
The prime minister visited various stalls and spoke with the companies participating in the expo. He was seen asking questions from company representatives to better understand what they are showcasing.
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The prime minister spent several minutes at various stalls while interacting with the representatives.
The Expo brings together global technology firms, startups, academia and research institutions, central and state governments and international partners.
Spread across 10 arenas covering more than 70,000 square metres, the Expo brings together global technology firms, startups, academia and research institutions, Union ministries, state governments and international partners.
The Expo also features 13 country pavilions, showcasing international collaboration in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem. These include pavilions from Australia, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia, Estonia, Tajikistan and Africa.
The Expo will host over 300 curated exhibition pavilions and live demonstrations, structured across three thematic chakras -- people, planet and progress.
In addition, the Expo will feature over 600 high-potential startups, many of them building globally relevant and population-scale solutions. These startups will demonstrate working solutions that are already deployed in real-world settings.
