After China, India: Trump announces a new tariff war

Turkey is also part of the new round of commercial tariffs. The American president wants the cancellation of both countries from the preferential system that allows goods to enter the US without taxes. Last June Delhi responded to duties imposed on its steel and aluminum replicating duties on Washington products (almonds, walnuts and shrimp), without suffering any significant economic damage.

Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - After the trade war between Beijing and Washington, which has had repercussions on all Asian economies and in Europe, US President Donald Trump now announces a new tariff war: this time, assets affected will be from India.

In a letter sent yesterday to Nancy Pelosi, president of the US Congress House of Representatives, Trump writes that New Delhi had “not assured” the United States that it would “provide equitable and reasonable access” to the markets of India. For this reason, he decided to stop the preferential program that allows Delhi's assets to enter the US without taxes.

Trump has already given the US Trade Representative's Office (USTR) the right to cancel India from the list of countries benefiting from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. This program is aimed at developing countries that meet a set of requirements established by the Congress; among these, protection of intellectual property, fight against child labor, respect for international rules on workers' rights.

India is the largest beneficiary of the system, created in the 1970s when Delhi's growth was around 3.5%. For its part, today the Delhi authorities reply that Trump's decision will not have major repercussions on the Indian economy.

Commerce Secretary, Anup Wadhawan, said the revocation from the GSP program "will have a minimal impact [on the Indian export volume of] $ 190 million". Among other things, last June Delhi has already responded to the duties imposed on its steel and aluminum with tariffs on Washington products (almonds, walnuts and shrimps), without suffering any particular economic damage.

One of the conditions for which the preferential trading system applies is that the beneficiary country should be a developing economy. This is why, according to Trump analysts, given that India is traveling at very high levels of growth (around 8%), it is no longer necessary for it to enjoy a facilitated trading system.

According to the same criterion, namely that the economy is now "sufficiently developed", Washington has announced the exclusion of Turkey. According to the regulations of the USTR office, the effects of the change of status will come into force within 60 days.

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