India navigates, China fulminates

The global economy's roller-coaster ride since US President Donald Trump's tariff announcements this month rattled the world.

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The days since have seen back-and-forth retaliatory tariff increases between the US and China, negotiations between the US and more than 70 nations, and the financial markets fall precipitously and recover.

At the time of writing this column, Trump had announced his latest surprise, a 90-day pause on tariffs, along with a vastly reduced interim tariff of 10 per cent, except for China. He upped the tariff on Chinese imports, for the third time, to an eye-watering 145 per cent.

India's dealings with the US, from the outset of this second Trump innings, have been cool, calm and collected. Without any fanfare, or any retaliatory statements, or counter tariffs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team have worked with the US behind the scenes, in an understated manner aimed at seeking solutions. So effective has this been that not only were the initially announced tariffs against India less than on competitors like Vietnam and Thailand, but Trump also publicly praised his “friend Modi” as an astute negotiator.