India is in a ‘much better’ place to deal with the global trade disruptions caused by the actions of the Trump administration as it continues to be driven by domestic consumption, ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri said.

Puri, who is also the president of the CII, believed that India would be able to weather the storm as it is already in discussions with multiple trade partners such as the US, the UK and the EU to forge bilateral deals which will facilitate trade and investment.

On April 2, US President Donald Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on many countries, including India, which he postponed by three months on June 9 with the exception of China, which continues to face a 145 per cent tariff. However, a 10 per cent additional duty on exports from all countries to the US is still in place. The so-called reciprocal tariffs have been suspended until July 9.

When asked about the impact of such tariffs on the domestic industry, Puri said it will be difficult to say how it will evolve, but India will be ‘much better’ placed in this.

“It’s difficult to say how it will evolve, but my own sense is that at the end of it, I think India is going to be much better placed, because I do see the possibility of several FTAs (free trade agreements) being inked, which industry has been looking forward to for some time, hopefully during the year, whether it’s the EU, the UK, and, of course, the US, where there is, I think discussions, dialogue happening at a faster rate,” Puri said while speaking at a fireside chat —Resilience and Growth in the New World Disorder — at the AIMA summit.

India and the US have been engaged in negotiating a bilateral trade agreement since March. Both sides have targeted to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (September-October) of this year with an aim to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

Puri argued India’s domestic consumption driven economy would not be hit much.

“So while short-term uncertainty, unpredictability may be causing some kind of impact on global growth also... a consequent little impact on India — because it is a consumption driven economy —will be also there,” he said.

Commenting on the impact on ITC, Puri observed that it is also a “more domestic-focused industry” but admitted it may face some impact due to the US tariffs.