More R&D, easier labour laws needed to counter Trump's tariffs, say experts

Providing more incentives to Indian industry to blunt the impact of the tariffs is unlikely to help, as will be any retaliatory measures; instead, lowering duties on intermediate goods will do more go

The key question from the Trump tariffs, with its seeming emphasis on re-industrializing America, seems to be whether India will be able to leverage the ensuing chaos to also push up domestic manufacturing? Large segments of the Indian industry have already begun to pitch the government for incentives instead of tariff protections. The latter is ruled out, since raising tariffs any more will invite further punitive tariffs from the US.

 

However, as a recent study from  New Delhi-based think-tank Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) shows, these incentives are unlikely to be of much help. Instead, simplifying labour laws