Daily News - Friday, 21 March 2025
‘Very good relationship’ but reciprocal tariffs on India from April 2: Trump (The Indian Express)
US President Donald Trump announced that India will face reciprocal tariffs from April 2, targeting key export sectors such as agriculture and pharmaceuticals, which have significant tariff differentials with the US. With India’s simple average agricultural tariff at 39% (trade-weighted 65%) compared to the US’s 5% (trade-weighted 4%), the new tariffs are expected to hurt India’s $6 billion agricultural exports and $18.44 billion pharmaceutical exports to the US. The Goldman Sachs report warns that the tariffs, along with potential non-tariff barriers, could further complicate bilateral trade relations, raising the average tariff differential by approximately 11.5 percentage points.
India Set to Kick off Local Potash Mining (The Economic Times)
India is set to award its first-ever potash mining blocks in Rajasthan under a new policy to extract critical minerals, aiming to reduce its heavy reliance on imports, which amounted to ₹8,054.83 crore in the first nine months of FY25. The Centre is auctioning the Jhandawali-Satipura and Jorkian-Satipura-Khunja potash blocks, with bids expected by May 1, following relaxed net worth criteria to attract more participants. This move aligns with the ₹16,300 crore National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), which is projected to generate ₹18,000 crore in investments for processing and extracting critical minerals, including potash, graphite, and nickel.
India & UK ‘very close’ to free trade pact after years of delay (Financial Express)
India and the UK are on the verge of finalizing a long-awaited free trade agreement (FTA), with Indian diplomat Nidhi Tripathi calling it a “game-changer” that will bring predictability and certainty for service suppliers. The recent progress follows renewed talks between UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, after the dialogue was paused in 2024 due to elections in both countries. Despite multiple missed deadlines since the negotiations began in January 2022, officials now indicate the talks are more positive than ever, raising hopes for a successful conclusion.
PLI scheme boosts exports in auto, medical equipment sectors (Financial Express)
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has significantly boosted exports in key sectors, with motorcycle parts and accessories exports rising to $709.2 million in April-January FY25 (up from $558 million in FY22), while imports contracted by 9% to $371.8 million. Diagnostic equipment exports grew by 11% during the same period, reaching $56.9 million, while imports plunged by 51% to $68.5 million, highlighting reduced dependence on foreign products. Since its launch in 2020-21, the PLI scheme, covering 14 sectors with 764 approved applications, has shown promising results within 2-3 years by driving new production through greenfield manufacturing.
X sues govt for using IT Act to 'block' content (Financial Express)
Elon Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has filed a lawsuit in the Karnataka High Court against the Indian government, challenging the use of Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000, claiming it creates an “unlawful” parallel censorship regime by bypassing the procedural safeguards of Section 69A. The company also sought protection for its employees from coercive action for not joining the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Sahyog portal, which it labeled a “Censorship Portal.” This is X’s second legal challenge against India’s online censorship policies, following its 2022 lawsuit against content blocking orders issued under Section 69A, alleging government overreach.
