The 50% tariff imposed by the US government on Indian merchandise exports goes beyond just trade economics and represents complex geopolitical issues that, hopefully, will get resolved over time. This is an opportunity for the industry and the government to work together to accelerate economic reforms and make India truly competitive. Indian industry stands behind the government and will do whatever it takes to make the country an economic superpower.

In the short term, we certainly need to accelerate bilateral agreements with the European Union (EU), and other countries and trading blocs. Second, immediate relief needs to be provided to the impacted sectors, especially labour-intensive micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This relief should be significant and quick and can be provided either as financial support or by other measures such as facilitating e-commerce, and customs duty exemption on import of raw materials for exports.

Before I talk about factor market reforms, I’d like to touch upon the ease of doing business, which is a critical enabler. Substantial work by the Centre and the states is underway and deserves to be complimented. This is a long journey and requires extensive stakeholder consultations and benchmarking with competing Asian manufacturing economies. The focus must continue, particularly with regard to construction permits, environmental clearances, decriminalisation of economic laws, customs processes, and labour laws. More forums like the GST Council with representations from the Centre and the states can be constituted for country-wide implementations.

New labour codes that include flexible working models, allowing hiring for all business activities for fixed periods (fixed term employment), relaxing number of daily........

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