U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced new trade tariffs, which many believe ignore the rules set by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Reacting to this, the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said that India should also consider ignoring WTO rules and even leave the TRIPS agreement.

TRIPS, or Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, is an international agreement under the WTO that controls how countries handle things like copyrights, patents, and trademarks. However, many experts believe this agreement does not favour developing countries like India.

Speaking to The Hindu, SJM economist and co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said India has suffered financially due to these global trade rules. “What we see is a total disregard of the WTO. We signed the WTO, and we were given higher bound tariffs for the reason that we had accepted the TRIPS, TRIMS, services, and agriculture in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the agreement on TRIPS had cost us heavily in terms of the outgo of royalty. We have approximately gone from a negligible amount of royalty to $17 billion plus,” Mr Mahajan explained.

Mr Mahajan strongly criticised the TRIPS agreement and said it has caused India giant losses. He questioned why India should still follow TRIPS when even the U.S. is ignoring WTO rules. “We can also disregard the WTO and dump TRIPS. Maybe it’s too early to say this, but if WTO doesn’t exist, then why should TRIPS? TRIPS as an agreement is inhumane. For example, we had pleaded with developed countries to keep medications for COVID outside of TRIPS, but they did not agree. It was clearly all for profit. If the West can be so sensitive towards their profits, why should we not be sensitive vis-à-vis our humanitarian needs?”

He argued that during the COVID-19 crisis, when developing countries requested that life-saving medicines be kept out of TRIPS rules, the developed nations refused. This showed, he said, that these countries cared more about profits than human lives.

India may benefit from U.S. tariffs on China

Even though Mr Mahajan criticised the U.S. actions, he said there might be a “silver lining” for India. He explained that the new tariffs on Chinese goods could make Indian products more competitive in the U.S. market. “If we look at the list of countries tariff-wise, our number comes in at 19th, and China is 11th, I believe. There is a difference of around 8% between India and China. So [between] India and China, who are the main competitors so far as the U.S. markets are concerned — may it be chemicals or other kinds of products — and although Indian industries have not been able to compete in India, they compete in the U.S. — we may get a relative advantage,” he said.

He added, “We see a silver lining in this relative difference, that India would gain market access in the U.S. more than it had before these Trump tariffs were announced. Say, if Chinese products become 34% costlier, Indian products will be 26% costlier.”

India must protect farmers and local industries

However, Mr Mahajan also warned that India should be careful about giving the U.S. too much market access in areas like agriculture, dairy, and small-scale industries. “The Indian government should continue efforts to protect agriculture and issues of livelihood,” he said.

He also mentioned that prices in India would not be affected unless the Indian government imposes similar tariffs. “So far as the Indian government’s mindset is concerned, they are ready to tweak tariffs on automobiles, especially electric vehicles, and these are not in competition with Indian automobile manufacturers. In the U.S., certainly, I foresee inflation, as they have imposed tariffs across the board,” Mr Mahajan said.

His comments highlight the growing frustration with global trade rules that developing countries feel are unfair — and suggest that India may soon take a stronger stand in favour of local industries and public welfare.

 

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