India blazes a trail for SA

RESISTING BULLYING: TWO-PRONGED STRATEGY TO BYPASS US TARIFFS

- FAWZIA MOODLEY

HIGH STAKES. Members of a trades association with a poster of US President Donald Trump during a protest in New Delhi against the recent tariff hikes imposed by the US on India.

(AFP)

As affected countries struggle under the weight of US President Donald Trump's erratic tariff policy, India presents an interesting case study of a nation standing up to the recent bully-boy tactics of the world's most powerful economy.

While many countries are grovelling at his feet, trying to appease Trump by stroking his massive ego, some offering jets, others nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize, India is trying to carve a new path of less dependency on the US.

Without being belligerent and while continuing to negotiate for a better tariff deal, New Delhi has drawn a red line, with its commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, declaring that his country “will neither bow down nor appear weak” in its relationship with other countries.

The stakes are high, as the US has been India's largest trading partner and the country is likely to suffer an estimated loss of around 0.8% of its GDP due to prolonged 50% tariffs.

Trump, who sees the relationship as biased in favour of India and believes it has a lot to lose if it doesn't tow the line, wrote on Truth Special: "What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us. They sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest 'client', but we sell them very little."