Legacy undermined

The recent decision by the United States to raise the H-1B visa fee to an unprecedented $100,000 per worker is another reminder of how disruptive economic nationalism can be when it collides with the realities of a global economy.

- BY ANAND KUMAR

Since Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term, disruption has become the new normal in Washington’s engagement with the world. During this term, Trump has weaponised tariffs as a blunt instrument to penalise exporting countries and raise revenue for the United States.

India was among the major sufferers when he imposed an extra 25 per cent tariff because of Indian purchases of Russian oil. While New Delhi was still negotiating those tariffs, Trump has now targeted a different pillar of the India-U.S. economic relationship by drastically increasing the fee for H-1B visas. This time the services sector, particularly the technology industry, finds itself in the crosshairs. The logic behind Trump’s policies is rooted in the economic nationalism that fuels his “Make America Great Again” movement.

Tariffs, he argued, would push global manufacturers to relocate production to the United States, restoring jobs to American workers. But the experience of the past few years shows that such structural changes do not happen overnight, nor can they be engineered by presidential decree. Global supply chains are complex, and companies shift production only when conditions are suitable and costs make sense. The result of Trump’s tariff wars was not a wave of factories returning to the United States, but rather higher costs for American consumers and retaliatory measures by trading partners.