Trump has weaponised tariffs as never before, not only to protect the domestic producers, but also to pursue some political objectives. He has restricted the grant of visas to discourage legal immigration in the hope that more jobs will go to the local people. He has taken his country out of many multilateral institutions, and undermined some others, while staying in the institutions. He has interfered in the internal affairs of some countries and threatened to interfere in more. He has not hesitated to use the enormous economic, political, and military power of the United States in the pursuit of whatever he thinks is right, without any regard to rules based political order, or trading system. In the process, he has weakened global cooperation on common issues such as climate change, public health, development finance etc.
Many countries such as South Korea, Japan, United Kingdom etc., and groups like the European Union have preferred to negotiate with the Trump administration from a weaker position, give some concessions, and move forward. However, China has used its ability to disrupt global supplies of critical minerals and metals to resist Trump’s pressure tactics. India has been unfairly targeted by Trump with reciprocal and punitive tariffs aggregating to 50 per cent, even while trade negotiations were going on.
India has responded by boosting domestic consumption, by cutting the taxes on goods and services, and fast-tracking negotiations for trade deals with the US, the European Union and some other countries. In the meantime, China has tried to somewhat mitigate the effects of its falling domestic consumption by aggressively accessing the global markets through price cuts, and by maintaining a weaker currency. Last week, China reported a trade surplus of $1.2 trillion in 2025. Soon, many countries may erect higher tariff and non-tariff barriers to protect their domestic producers
Amidst growing global complexity, geopolitical fragmentation, and economic competition, the WEF aims to provide an impartial platform for leaders of governments, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders to broaden perspectives, catalyse problem-solving, and build bridges across divides. The official theme for the meet is ‘A Spirit of Dialogue’. Many discussions at the meeting will focus on pressing global issues such as geopolitical risks, economic competition, innovation (including artificial intelligence and advanced technologies), sustainable growth, and social challenges — all framed within the goal of fostering constructive global conversation and cooperation. From India, the National Security Advisor will lead a delegation of four Union Ministers, five Chief Ministers, two Deputy Chief Ministers, some top bureaucrats from States, and over 100 chiefs of businesses signalling India’s intent to engage deeply on global economic, technology, sustainability, and investment dialogues at the WEF meeting.
The WEF meet is more about the direction in which the world is moving. For the average Indian exporters and importers, the utility of the WEF is indirect but real — mainly through policy signals, rule-setting narratives and early warnings that shape the trade environment they must operate in over the next two to five years.
Email: tncrajagopalan@gmail.com
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