India can benefit from Trump’s tariff proposal : NITI Aayog

US President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to impose high tariffs on three of its trading partners, including China, will provide huge export opportunities for India and the domestic industry should prepare itself to tap into that, Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said on Wednesday.

Trump last week vowed to introduce 25 per cent tariffs (or customs duty) on imports from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10 per cent on China. “Whatever Trump has announced so far...I think there are opportunities for India. We are a man at first slip, the ball is coming in our direction. Are we going to hold it or drop the catch, it’s for us to see...and I think, you will see some steps in next few months,” he Subrahmanyam told reporters here.

He said there is going to be huge disruptions because of that in the US trade and that would open up “huge” opportunities for India. “The question is if we actually prepare ourselves, it can lead to a massive boom... because there is going to be trade diversion,” he added.

“Our relationship with the US is multi-dimensional. It is very deep. It’s not standing only on one leg which is trade, there are many many other dimensions. The two nations have a much deeper relationship and all these things will be taken into account,” he said.