President Donald Trump's economic strategy is facing fresh scrutiny as his administration continues using tariffs and sanctions to pressure trading partners and geopolitical rivals.

New tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from 60 countries are now facing legal challenges, with multiple US states arguing that the administration exceeded its authority. Economists also suggest that American businesses and consumers—not foreign exporters—are paying much of the cost through higher prices.

At the same time, US sanctions on Russia have pushed Moscow to expand alternative payment systems, shadow shipping networks, and trade partnerships with countries such as China and India.

Trump's Tariffs & Sanctions Under Fire | Are US Economic Pressure Tactics Failing?

US business activity nearly stalled in February, with the S&P global composite PMI falling to 50.4, its lowest level in 17 months. The slowdown was driven by the services sector, which contracted for the first time in over a year. This has raised concerns over the future of the US economy under Trump's 'tariffs' regime.

Trump’s trade policies rattle businesses & consumers

India’s restricitve trade policies&nbsp;with custom duties as high as 22 per cent may have&nbsp;given Vietnam the upper hand for manufacturing smart phones, and other electronics, reports suggest.

The glass cover, the touch-screen display, the camera module, and the printed circuit board assembly, when combined, makes about 75 per cent of a smart phone’s bill-of-materials price. Vietnam, the world’s second-largest handset exporter after China, is able to source components with zero-tariff from trade partners.

In contrast, despite its eagerness to promote local smart phone manufacture, India has a four per cent cost disadvantage, according to the 2023 edition of a price comparison research published by the industry association India Cellular &amp; Electronics Association (ICEA).

India has intentionally increased the burden on assemblers even as it started compensating them for the various cost disadvantages that already exist, namely inadequate infrastructure and excessive regulations.

The existence of production-linked incentives, or PLIs, guarantees to pay businesses up to 4 per cent to 6 per cent of their additional sales for a period of five years. But the report suggests that India is hampering its ability to compete, while it pays companies to locate its plants there.

Another opinion holds that the assistance is “supported through indirect revenue from increased indirect taxes from the same sector,” as the ICEA study states.

Competition elsewhere in Asia and is focused on semiconductors. Several nations, ranging from Thailand to Singapore and Malaysia, are currently looking to move the manufacturing of front-end chips from East to Southeast and South Asia. India is attempting to climb that ladder through testing and packaging. While those intentions have yet to materialise, the nation is now Vietnam’s next competitor in a low-value-added activity like assembly electronics parts because to its affordable labour.

Multinational companies have altered their manufacturing plans after the pandemic and President Xi Jinping’s deteriorating relations with the West. Only a few weeks after they begin shipping from Chinese manufacturing, the Foxconn Technology Group plant in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu is getting ready to export iPhone 15s, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

Apple Inc. and other companies are wary of placing an undue reliance on China to meet global demand. India now has an opportunity to take over the supply chain as a result of their pursuit of a China+1 strategy. However, due to Samsung Electronics Co., Vietnam’s phone exports increased by six times last year compared to other South Asian countries. This is the difference that New Delhi seeks to bridge.

However, data from the ICEA revealed that India’s total cost disadvantage due to tariffs on smart phone components came to around 3.6 per cent in comparison to the cost gap with Vietnam. This competitive disadvantage may increase to a near 4 per cent. This could possibly prompt multinational companies to look for alternative manufacturing locations in countries like Vietnam, potentially making it a huge competitor to India.

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India’s restricitve trade policies with custom duties as high as 22 per cent may have given Vietnam the upper hand for manufacturing smart phones, and other electronics, reports suggest.

India’s restricitve trade policies with custom duties as high as 22 per cent may have given Vietnam the upper hand for manufacturing smart phones, and other electronics, reports suggest. The glass cover, the touch-screen display, the camera module, and the printed circuit board assembly, when combined, makes about 75 per cent of a smart phone’s bill-of-materials price. Vietnam, the world’s second-largest handset exporter after China, is able to source components with zero-tariff from trade partners. In contrast, despite its eagerness to promote local smart phone manufacture, India has a four per cent cost disadvantage, according to the 2023 edition of a price comparison research published by the industry association India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA). India has intentionally increased the burden on assemblers even as it started compensating them for the various cost disadvantages that already exist, namely inadequate infrastructure and excessive regulations. The existence of production-linked incentives, or PLIs, guarantees to pay businesses up to 4 per cent to 6 per cent of their additional sales for a period of five years. But the report suggests that India is hampering its ability to compete, while it pays companies to locate its plants there. Another opinion holds that the assistance is “supported through indirect revenue from increased indirect taxes from the same sector,” as the ICEA study states. Competition elsewhere in Asia and is focused on semiconductors. Several nations, ranging from Thailand to Singapore and Malaysia, are currently looking to move the manufacturing of front-end chips from East to Southeast and South Asia. India is attempting to climb that ladder through testing and packaging. While those intentions have yet to materialise, the nation is now Vietnam’s next competitor in a low-value-added activity like assembly electronics parts because to its affordable labour. Multinational companies have altered their manufacturing plans after the pandemic and President Xi Jinping’s deteriorating relations with the West. Only a few weeks after they begin shipping from Chinese manufacturing, the Foxconn Technology Group plant in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu is getting ready to export iPhone 15s, according to a report by Bloomberg News. Apple Inc. and other companies are wary of placing an undue reliance on China to meet global demand. India now has an opportunity to take over the supply chain as a result of their pursuit of a China+1 strategy. However, due to Samsung Electronics Co., Vietnam’s phone exports increased by six times last year compared to other South Asian countries. This is the difference that New Delhi seeks to bridge. However, data from the ICEA revealed that India’s total cost disadvantage due to tariffs on smart phone components came to around 3.6 per cent in comparison to the cost gap with Vietnam. This competitive disadvantage may increase to a near 4 per cent. This could possibly prompt multinational companies to look for alternative manufacturing locations in countries like Vietnam, potentially making it a huge competitor to India. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Vietnam likely to benefit more from India’s restrictive trade policy

The Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb spoke about the country's trade policy with its neighbor India.

Pakistan Minister: Previous government responsible for economic fallout

The protectionist trade policy of President Gotabaya appears to be recoiling. The ban on non-essential consumer goods has resulted in sky-high prices and poor quality. So why is the government sticking to this policy? Mariam Wardak tells you more.

South Asia Diary: Lankan consumers reel under import ban

ASEAN foreign ministers held meetings with key dialogue and strategic partners on Thursday in Bangkok during the annual gathering of the 10-member bloc.

Japan, India, Canada FMs meet ASEAN leaders

China on Monday said that President Xi Jinping and his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss United States's "protectionist" trade policy during the 2-day-long summit this week.&nbsp

Both the leaders will also talk about the "unprecedented" global developments in the past 100 years.&nbsp

Modi and Xi will also hold talks over bilateral relations, trade penalties by the US, the Korean peninsula crisis among other issues of pressing concern.&nbsp

"During this meeting, the two leaders will discuss the changes that have taken place and which are unprecedented in the past 100 years and exchange views on the strategic, over-arching and long-term issues concerning our bilateral relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang noted.

"The two sides believe that the strategic and global significance of our relations have become more prominent and our common interests far outweigh our differences," Lu noted.

China and the United States are involved in an ongoing trade spat. The Trump administration has also threatened India with taxes if import duties are not lowered.&nbsp 
&nbsp

Modi and Xi will also hold talks over bilateral relations, trade penalties by the US, the Korean peninsula crisis among other issues

China on Monday said that President Xi Jinping and his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss United States's "protectionist" trade policy during the 2-day-long summit this week. Both the leaders will also talk about the "unprecedented" global developments in the past 100 years. Modi and Xi will also hold talks over bilateral relations, trade penalties by the US, the Korean peninsula crisis among other issues of pressing concern. "During this meeting, the two leaders will discuss the changes that have taken place and which are unprecedented in the past 100 years and exchange views on the strategic, over-arching and long-term issues concerning our bilateral relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang noted. "The two sides believe that the strategic and global significance of our relations have become more prominent and our common interests far outweigh our differences," Lu noted. China and the United States are involved in an ongoing trade spat. The Trump administration has also threatened India with taxes if import duties are not lowered.

Modi, Xi to discuss US' 'protectionist' trade policy during summit

After the Trump administration signed the memorandum targeted at imports from China, many were worried of a potential trade war. According to Nobel economics prize winner Thomas Sargent from the United States, it is not a good policy.

Despite strong opposing opinions from business groups and trade experts, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs on up to 60 billion U.S. dollars of imports from China.

Sargent expressed that when anybody starts a trade war, and especially when his own country starts doing this, it makes him feel sad and embarrassed. He held that the trade war is bad for everybody&#39;s interest.

&quot;It helps a very small number of people in the United States at the expense of many more people in the United States and many people outside the United States. I just think it&#39;s not a good policy,&quot; said Sargent.

Heads of some U.S. industry associations also argued that trade barriers erected by the United States are to affect its own enterprises and employment.

As Sargent pointed out, Trump did not take the path that would follow the normal responsibilities of the United States.

&quot;Because the way trade works is its multilateral. It&#39;s &#39;we&#39; trade. China doesn&#39;t just trade with the United States. It trades with many other countries. Countries have deficits and surpluses with all sorts of different countries. And the reason we have trade deficits is the responsibility of the United States. That doesn&#39;t have anything to do with tariff policy,&quot; he explained.

Sargent also talked about Chinese President Xi Jinping&#39;s intelligent speech on the benefits of globalization and multilateral trade in Davos. He hoped that the U.S. government could be making speeches like that.

According to the presidential memorandum, Trump has directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to publish a list of proposed Chinese goods that could be subject to tariffs in 15 days, while the U.S. Treasury Department will have 60 days to propose restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States.

Heads of some US industry associations also argued that trade barriers erected by the United States are to affect its own enterprises and employment.

After the Trump administration signed the memorandum targeted at imports from China, many were worried of a potential trade war. According to Nobel economics prize winner Thomas Sargent from the United States, it is not a good policy. Despite strong opposing opinions from business groups and trade experts, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs on up to 60 billion U.S. dollars of imports from China. Sargent expressed that when anybody starts a trade war, and especially when his own country starts doing this, it makes him feel sad and embarrassed. He held that the trade war is bad for everybody's interest. "It helps a very small number of people in the United States at the expense of many more people in the United States and many people outside the United States. I just think it's not a good policy," said Sargent. Heads of some U.S. industry associations also argued that trade barriers erected by the United States are to affect its own enterprises and employment. As Sargent pointed out, Trump did not take the path that would follow the normal responsibilities of the United States. "Because the way trade works is its multilateral. It's 'we' trade. China doesn't just trade with the United States. It trades with many other countries. Countries have deficits and surpluses with all sorts of different countries. And the reason we have trade deficits is the responsibility of the United States. That doesn't have anything to do with tariff policy," he explained. Sargent also talked about Chinese President Xi Jinping's intelligent speech on the benefits of globalization and multilateral trade in Davos. He hoped that the U.S. government could be making speeches like that. According to the presidential memorandum, Trump has directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to publish a list of proposed Chinese goods that could be subject to tariffs in 15 days, while the U.S. Treasury Department will have 60 days to propose restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States.

US trade protectionist action is bad policy: Nobel economics prize winner

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