Best of BS Opinion: Tariff shifts, police standoffs, and public judgement

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Writing on the US Supreme Court’s decision to block Donald Trump’s use of the IEEPA to impose country-specific tariffs, Shang-Jin Wei notes that while the move triggered political backlash, its practical impact may be limited. The administration swiftly replaced them with a flat 10 per cent levy, adjustable to 15 per cent. It means that effective tariff rates fall for China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia, and edge up for Japan, South Korea, the European Union and the United Kingdom. With Sections 232 and 301 now being deployed and the WTO’s Appellate Body still paralysed, Wei argues that the broader structure of US trade barriers is unlikely to soften meaningfully.

 

Meanwhile, Aditi Phadnis writes on a confrontation between the Delhi and Himachal Pradesh police that has escalated into a constitutional dispute. The arrest of Indian Youth Congress members in Delhi led officers to Shimla, where the Himachal police accused them of bypassing inter-state procedure and filed kidnapping charges. Cases now stand in both states. The episode unfolds against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s politically fragile tenure, marked by factional strains, fiscal stress, and approaching local elections that heighten each confrontation.

 

Sandeep Goyal turns to the debate over whether sporting success justifies unconventional choices. Fourteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s decision to skip board exams for the IPL has divided opinion. Survey data from the Indian Institute of Human Brands shows strong parental disapproval. Goyal distinguishes admiration from emulation, recalling how endorsement choices once shaped consumer trust. Public figures may inspire, he suggests, but brands and families judge role models by different standards.

 

Shekhar Gupta reflects on the hazards of commentary in a digital archive where past predictions remain searchable. Acknowledging earlier errors, including a flawed assessment of Russia’s 2022 advance on Kyiv, he revisits his 2011 column urging India not to overestimate Pakistan’s strategic depth in Afghanistan. With Pakistan now facing militant blowback and cross-border tensions, he contends that fears of a durable Afghanistan-Pakistan axis against India were overstated.

 

Finally, in today’s Eye Culture column, Atanu Biswas remembers Sankar, born Mani Sankar Mukhopadhay, whose novels — including Kato Ajanare and Chowringhee, alongside Seemabaddha and Jana Aranya adapted by Satyajit Ray — chronicled Kolkata’s institutional life and moral anxieties with enduring clarity. His work engaged closely with the city’s legal fraternity, corporate offices and hotel lobbies, recording the texture of professional ambition and social mobility. By situating individual struggles within wider economic and political change, he built a body of writing that continues to inform readings of urban India.

 

Stay tuned!