Chandigarh: US tariffs targeting developing nations illegal, says expert
For India, it is going to be difficult to negotiate with bilateral trade ties with the US as the Trump government has a long list of grievances, says Abhijit Das, international trade expert
The reciprocal tariffs imposed by the USA on developing countries are in violation of the international trade law, said Abhijit Das, international trade expert, at a session here on Monday.
Themed “Trump’s tariff hike: The big picture and implications for India”, the discussion was organised by the Institute for Development and Communication in collaboration with Chandigarh University in Sector 38-A.
Das said the Uruguay Round (1986-93) that led to the creation of the World Trade Organisation had provided leverage to developing countries to impose higher tariffs on developed countries to give them hope for development. Therefore, Trump’s claim to put trade restrictions on developing countries to have trade balance between nations is baseless, he said. For India, it is going to be difficult to negotiate with bilateral trade ties with the USA as the Trump government has a long list of grievances from India, Das added.
The tariff hike is in alignment with a broader trend of economic nationalism, marked by the assertion of militaristic power in trade policy, experts mentioned. Atul Sood from Jawaharlal Nehru University argued that such protectionist measures are not only exclusionary but also structurally disadvantageous to emerging economies like India, which face limited negotiating power and increased vulnerability in an increasingly polarised global economic order.
The panellists agreed that tariff war had the potential to restructure the global order. The resulting tariff wars are reshaping comparative advantages, disrupting supply chains and generating uncertainty across international markets.
For India, this evolving landscape presents both opportunities and challenges—ranging from recalibrated trade negotiations with the US to the need for strategic alignment amid rising protectionism and inflationary pressures worldwide, the panellists mentioned. The session was chaired by Pramod Kumar, chairperson, IDC.