India needs to ambitiously expand its manufacturing footprint at a time when the tariff war initiated by US President Trump is intensifying, and China and EU have retaliated, leading logistics companies said at Network18’s Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi on April 9.
Speaking on the business impact of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on logistic players, DTDC Express’ CEO Abhishek Chakraborty fears there would be massive disruptions going forward.
“While decisions can be made in seconds, it takes time for shipping routes to reorient as there are demand-supply patterns that are deep rooted over the years. To be honest, there’ll be massive disruption on that front. But, if the macro win for India here is that there will be potentially more trade from the country to the world, then it will be worth investing time behind all of this,” Abhishek Chakraborty said.
Srinath Ramakkrushnan, co-founder and COO, Zetwerk said the tariff wars will make India an important option in the global sourcing footprint.
"The world for the at least the last two decades had only one answer to all the manufacturing capabilities - China. The reciprocal tariffs should only accelerate momentum toward more countries and companies looking at India as an important option in their global sourcing footprint,” COO of Zetwerk, Srinath Ramakkrushnan said.
However, Ramakkrushnan added that India needs to step up to realise its potential. “…it is time for us also to get more aggressive, invest in capacities and capture this lion’s share of the chain that is going to happen over the next decade as far as global manufacturing source is concerned,” Ramakkrushnan said.
He also warned of ‘confusion’ in the short-term, as the tariff war unfolds. “When there is uncertainty, people pause decision making, and when decision making is paused, there will be a slowdown in the US business that we have. Long-term, I see it as a big positive for India and we are looking to capitalise that,” Zetwerk COO said.
US President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs kicked in on April 9, and China has promptly hit back, imposing 84 percent tariff on its US imports, intensifying the trade war further.
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