Trump tariffs: India can insulate itself by allowing US goods to enter freely, says Mark Mobius

New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) As the Donald Trump administration in the US announced hefty trade tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, ace global investor Mark Mobius said on Monday that these strong measures can impact the world economic order in the long term, and India can insulate itself easily by opening up the market further for US goods.

Trump has announced to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 per cent on goods from China, starting from Tuesday. He also pledged to place new tariffs on goods from the European Union (EU).

Speaking to IANS, the billionaire investor who runs the Mobius EM Opportunities Fund for emerging markets, said that these new measures are set to affect the world economic order in the long term.

These tariffs will have a "big impact" on global markets and "India, in my view, is in a good position to further open up the market and allow US good to enter freely,” he told IANS.

According to Mobius, it will be a good era in this new global trade environment under Trump, “with a more open world order”.

In the Union Budget 2025-26, the Centre has introduced customs duty rationalisation to ensure that the Indian economy becomes ‘aatmanirbhar (self-reliant), according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In a post-budget interview with NDTV, the Finance Minister said “We are looking at our own economy. We are looking to strengthen the foundation of the Indian economy, to make it a manufacturing hub”.

The Finance Minister added that the announcement in the Union Budget of reducing customs duties aims at making cheap raw materials available for MSMEs, getting critical minerals and allowing Indian companies to import materials and export a finished product of high value.

Tariffs on Harley Davidson bikes were reduced further ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed visit to the US. For motorcycles with an engine capacity not exceeding 1600 cc, the duty on CBUs (completely-built units) has been slashed from 50 per cent to 40 per cent. For larger motorcycles with engine capacity exceeding 1600 cc, the reductions are higher.

According to Mobius, the Indian Union Budget “looks good but perhaps may need to be amended in view of changing circumstances”.

His advise to investors in the current scenario is to “keep cool and conserve some cash”.