By Admin 
Former US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has strongly criticized the trade policy of the Trump administration. He said that America is making a big mistake with India and its other global allies. Raimondo said that ‘America First’ is one thing, but a policy like ‘America Alone’ is destructive. Raimondo was speaking at Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. He warned that the current American stance is distancing the country from its important economic and strategic partners.
Raimondo said, ‘In my view, one of the biggest mistakes of the Trump administration is to upset all of its allies. Without good relations with countries like Europe and Japan, America is becoming weak. He stressed that effective diplomacy at the international level requires strong partnerships, not unilateral policies.
Need to improve relations with India
Referring specifically to India, Raimondo said, ‘We are making a big mistake with India. We need to build strong trade relations with countries like India and Europe. His comments come at a time when India and America are close to finalizing their bilateral trade agreement (BTA). Agreement has been reached between the two countries on most of the issues and now work is going on on the legal language of the agreement.
Tariff dispute and some issues still remain
However, the situation regarding 50% American tariff is not yet clear. The US had imposed these tariffs on India in August, half of which are as punishment for buying energy from Russia. Due to this, India’s US exports declined by 12% in September, while total exports increased by 6.74%. An official said that ‘the talks are moving in a positive direction. Agreement has been reached on most of the issues and now only a few technical differences remain.
He said that some issues related to non-tariff barriers are still to be resolved. India hopes that the duties imposed under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act – such as taxes on automobiles, steel and aluminum – will be resolved in the new agreement.