Trump's rates elicit a ghost of the thirties: Does America repeat its foolishness?

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. The danger exists that prolonged rates and retribution reduce world question and fragmented the supply chains in ways reminiscent of the 1930s. Summary Trump’s rates and global trading tensions reflect an era of deep distrust and instability. Poorly calibrated obstacles can reflect worldwide, disrupt supply chains, slow down the growth and slow down the lives of the scars long after being reversed. The history of history: what Farce looks like can end in tragedy. India’s bilateral trade with the US reached $ 132 billion in 2024-25. In just five months of 2025-26, India recorded about half of last year’s number. That momentum now has disruption: Washington currently has an extra rate of 50% on the import of Indian goods after the rate was doubled at the end of August. The question is not only whether it will benefit the US economy, but also how it will reform India’s trading strategies and the world system. To evaluate the consequences, it is useful to review the most notorious protectionist experiment of America: the SMOOT Hawley Tariff Act (SHT) of 1930. Although it is different in the design, the equation highlights the risk of increasing tariff wars. The SHT was a blanket increase that increased duties on more than 20,000 imports, with the average rates on the designated goods rising to about 60%. Although it was originally justified as relief for farmers, lobbying quickly expanded its coverage to manufactured items. The result was rapidly retaliation by US trading partners, which led to a collapse in global trade. Between 1929 and 1934, World Trade fell by almost two-thirds, which exacerbated the Great Depression. Although not the only cause, the SHT has strengthened the economic crisis by aggravating demand for demand and financial infection. The 2025 tariffs are finer targeted. They are land and product-specific, estimated as a negotiating instrument to push partners to reciprocity. Yet the danger of prolonged rates and retaliation that reduces world demand and fragmenting the supply chains in ways reminiscent of the 1930s. Earlier this year, firms rushed shipping to the US and temporarily dampened the shock. But economists warn that trade volumes will fall in late 2025 and until 2026. The World Bank has reduced its forecast for global growth and predicted the worst expansion (which has hampered recession years since 2008. Indian policymakers are allegedly weighing retaliation tariffs, complaints filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a diversification of export markets to Southeast Asia, Africa and West Asia. But the US is a key market for sectors such as textiles, pharmaceuticals and IT services. Latin America and Africa in to fill orders provided by US farms. The next decade about $ 5.2 trillion extra income. Reserve offers some pillow, but it can not cancel the arithmetic of more expensive imports. Having long -term investment. General agreement on rates and trade institutionalized openness, which helps to restore growth. involves where domestic producers experience minimal competition and the dependence on multilateral forums for dispute resolution to resolve differences. To solve structural problems. India in the heart of the story. Hike read next story