DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2025, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 SHOCK THERAPY SENDS U.S. MARKETS PLUNGING: DOW DOWN 3.4%, NASDAQ CRASHES 5.8%, OIL SLIDES 6% Trump Tariffs the World India exports hit with 27% tariff, Asian peers face higher duties Trump shreds old globalisation map, what India needs for the road ahead RAVI DUTTA MISHRA AS US President Donald Trump brings the curtains down on the age of globalisation, India will have to unlearn much of its approachtointernationaltradedeveloped since the early 1990s. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in February, the government’s intensetradetalkswiththeTrump Administration over the last few NEW DELHI, APRIL 3 US PRESIDENT Donald Trump launched the most aggressive global tariff war yet, even by his own standards set in the first term, dealing a blow to the postWorld War II liberal trade order that America helped build. He set the reciprocal tariff for India at 27 per cent, lower than many Asian rivals, but one that would impactexportingsectorssuchas gems and jewellery, and auto components. The announcements roiled marketsThursdaymorningwith the Dow industrials dropping 1,450 points, or 3.4 per cent, and the Nasdaq plunging 5.8 per cent. The turmoil didn’t stop with the stock markets; oil slid more than 6 per cent and the dollarfelltoitslowestlevelof the year dropping 2 per cent against the euro and Japanese yen. On Wednesday, Trump claimed his tariffs will “reverse the economic damage left by the previousadministration”andput America on a path to a “new golden age”. As a first step in resetting the trade order, he imposed a blanket 10 per cent tariff on all countries. He followed this upwithindividualreciprocaltariffratesonnationswithwhichthe UShasahightradedeficit,pulling globalstockindicesdownandin- Supreme Court judges to make their assets public Decision after CJI Sanjiv Khanna proposed it at full court meeting NEW DELHI, APRIL 3 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY HOW TO TRUMP TARIFFS By SHOUMITRO CHATTERJEE AFTER THE TARIFFS India must negotiate with US, pursue a more ambitious agenda for trade reform PAGE 8 creasing the odds of a US recession that could eventually slow global trade growth. Trump slapped tariffs of 1020 per cent on Western partners suchastheUKandtheEuropean Union, but his focus remained firmlyonChinaandcountriesreceiving significant Chinese CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pharma gains on exemption, but gems, jewellery and auto may take a hit AGGAM WALIA & RAVI DUTT MISHRA NEW DELHI, APRIL 3 THE TRUMP administration’s imposition of 27 per cent duty onimportsfromIndiaissettohit a range of sectors — from gems and jewellery and smartphones to solar photovoltaic modules and auto-components. Steel, aluminium and automobiles,onwhichTrumphadalready imposed 25 per cent tariffs earlier in March, will not Waqf Bill all set to get Parliament stamp, BJD & YSRCP say no whip to MPs in Rajya Sabha attract the new reciprocal tariffs. The executive order signed by the US President on April 2 also exempts, as of now, certain critical minerals, energy products, pharmaceuticals and bullion, from US tariffs. Asmarketsreactedadversely to the sweeping tariff changes that the US announced for its trading partners, the Indian government said it is engaged with theindustryandexporterstoassess the situation and examine the implications. The Commerce and Industry Ministrysaiditwasalsoidentifying opportunities that may arise due to this new development in American trade policy. In its statement Thursday morning, the Ministry said, “The USPresidentissuedanExecutive Order on Reciprocal Tariffs, imposing additional ad valorem duties ranging from 10 per cent to 50 per cent on imports from alltradingpartners.Thebaseline duty of 10 per cent will be effective from April 5, 2025, and the remaining country-specific CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, APRIL 3 US PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s announcement Wednesday of sweeping tariffs has deepened global anxiety and sent nations scrambling to respond. In the portents of dark economic clouds,thereare,asof now,three silver linings for India: Comparative advantage PAGES 14, 15, 16 AHMEDABAD, MARCH 3 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGE 1 ANCHOR PM Narendra Modi with Thailand PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Bangkok on Thursday. PTI Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress members Sonia Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh in Rajya Sabha Thursday. ANI ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND, VIKAS PATHAK & NIKHIL GHANEKAR NEW DELHI, APRIL 3 TWO DAYS of intense, fiery and marathon discussions later, the contentiousWaqf (Amendment) Bill for sweeping changes in regulation of Waqf properties and settlementof disputeswasallset togetParliament’sapprovalpast midnightThursdaywiththemajority in Rajya Sabha also supporting the Bill. As the Upper House debated the Bill, a day after it cleared Lok Sabha, the government reiteratedithadnointentiontosnatch the rights of Muslims. The Opposition parties, on the other hand, accused the BJP of targeting the Muslim community. In the divided House, two non-NDA parties signalled a shift in stance. The BJD, which opposed the Bill, withdrew its whip and told its MPs to vote according to their conscience “in the best interest of justice, harmony and the rights of all communities”. The YSRCP also said it had not issued a whip to its members. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 India, Thailand plan: Strategic partnership, strategic dialogue SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, APRIL 3 AS PRIME Minister Narendra Modi met Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Bangkok on Thursday, the two countries agreed to upgrade their relations to a “strategic partnership”. Modi underlined that Thailand holds a special place in India's Act East PolicyanditsIndo-Pacificvision. Modi, who arrived in Bangkok on a two-day visit on Thursday, will attend the 6th BIMSTEC leaders’ summit on Friday. In his departure statement, Modi described BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) as a significant forum for promoting regional development, connectivity and economic progress in the region. Following his meeting with Shinawatra ahead of the BIMSTECsummit,Modisaid:“Today, we have decided to strengthen our ties into a strategic partner- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 the tariff rate applied on the latter’s competitors. So,whilethetariff slappedby theUSonIndiaiskey,whatcould be more important is the tariff rate proposed for, say China, Bangladesh or Vietnam. Aspertheannouncement,the US will impose a 10 per cent base tariffonallcountriesfromApril5, and an individualised reciprocal highertarifffromApril9oncountrieswithwhichWashingtonhas the largest trade deficits. In India’s case, once the first phase of the universal 10 per cent tariff takes effect on April 5, a 17 per cent tariff will kick in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 After industry blowback, Gujarat puts off differential pricing of stents MODI UNDERLINES ‘FREE, OPEN’ INDO-PACIFIC APURVA VISHWANATH & ANANTHAKRISHNAN G IN A significant decision, all 31 judgesof theSupremeCourtwill publicly declare their assets, The Indian Express has learnt. The declaration made to the Chief Justice of India is likely to be uploaded on the Supreme Court website. Sourcessaidthedecisionwas taken at a full court meeting on April 1. The full court had met to consider senior advocate designations for at least six former High Court judges. CJI Sanjiv Khannaislearnttohaveproposed the issue and he even assuaged the concerns of a few judges. While an official notification of the full court decision is awaited, it is learnt that the modalities and timeline for implementation are still being worked out. Judges could be Tariffsworkonacomparative basis,andwhilethelevyimposed byonecountryonanotherisimportant, more consequential is BRENDAN DABHI NEW DELHI, APRIL 3 Wednesday, Trump was not the only one who spoke. Trump invited Brian Pannebecker, a re● tired auto worker from Detroit, once the heart of the world’s car production, to speak up. Pannebecker had brought along a group of 20 comrades from the United Auto Workers Union, dressed in green jackets and hard hats. Expressing full support for Trump’s tariff war, In dark cloud, a few silver linings for India: Tariff level, trade talks, reforms US President Donald Trump announces the new tariffs at the White House Wednesday. AP THE EDITORIAL PAGE E days, and its cautious response to the imposition of 27 per cent tariffs on Indian imports underline Delhi’s recognition of the dramatic shift in America’s domestic politics on trade, the historic turn in the evolutionof theglobaleconomic order and the need for a prudent handlingof thecurrentmoment. At the White House Rose Garden ceremony announcing a sweeping tariff war against America’s trade partners EXPLAINED C RAJA MOHAN ship. Also, we discussed establishing a 'strategic dialogue' between our security agencies.” A strategicdialoguebetweensecurity agencies points to the development of a strong partnership asthetwosidesdealwithcrimes and maritime security issues. “We thanked the Government of Thailand for their cooperation in facilitating the return of Indian victims of cybercrime. We have agreed that our agencies will collaborate closely to combat human trafficking and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 FOLLOWING A pushback from Indian manufacturers, the Gujarat government Thursday put off its move under the Ayushman Bharat scheme to price angioplasty stents cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at twice the rate of those cleared by the Indian regulator. The Indian Express, on April 2, had reported that the government would price stents approved by the FDA at `25,000 each and those cleared by the DrugsControllerGeneralof India (DCGI) at `12,000 each. This decision to put off the differential pricing was taken during a meeting in Gandhinagar of the governing body of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Mukhyamantri Amrutam (PMJAY-MA) — the state’s hybrid variant of the flagship central insurance scheme. Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said in a statement Thursday: “The decision of the Executive Committee for the Health minister Rushikesh Patel price of stents used in angioplastyhasbeenpostponedinthe Governing Body for now. A new decision will be taken after detailed discussions.” Currently, all drug-eluting stents (DES), used to treat blockedheartarteries,arepriced at `35,000. The Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) had written to Union HealthMinisterJPNadda,calling theGujaratgovernment’sdifferential pricing decision "discriminatory". They said the move “will be seen as helping American MNCs capture back their lost market share at more favourable and profitable reimbursement”. One cardiologist from Gujarat, seeking anonymity, said: “The government appears to be saying that products CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Bharuch murder accused kept friend’s body parts in flat for 3 days ADITI RAJA VADODARA, APRIL 3 ON THE day he allegedly killed his friend Sachin Chauhan, 35, at hisrentedapartmentinGujarat’s BharuchdistrictonMarch25,33year-oldShailendraChauhanreported to work as usual in his Dahej-based company. On his way back, he bought a saw, severalpolythenebags,ragstoclean the blood in his apartment as wellasawomen'sgownanddupatta. Oncebackhome,heallegedly began dismembering Sachin's body,storedthepartsindifferent polythene bags, cleaned the house, and went off to sleep. Over the next three days, he disposed of the bags in different parts of the city. All this without taking a single day off work. Theseandothergrislydetails havebeenrevealedbythepolice as they began piecing together the sequence of events that led to the crime. The first day, on March 26, Shailendra allegedly dressed up as a woman -- wearing a maxi gown and covering his face with a dupatta – to hide his identity anddisguisephysicalappearance toevadeCCTVcameras,androde Sachin’s two-wheeler to the Bholav GIDC area. Here, he dumpedsomeof thebodyparts, includingSachin’sseveredhead, in the open drainage line. Shailendra then allegedly withdrew cash from an ATM using Sachin’sdebitcardandswitched on the phone of the deceased to messagethelatter'sfamilymembers and mislead them, the policesaid.Afterthat,hewenttohis office. On March 28, when Sachin’s Victim Sachin Chauhan was identified by the three dots at the end of his tattoo. brother arrived in Bharuch, Shailendra allegedly joined him to “look for” his sibling and also accompanied the family to the policestationinBharuchtownto lodge a missing persons complaint. Later, he allegedly returned to dispose of the remaining body parts and headed to work, the police said. On March 29, Shailendra allegedly escaped from Bharuch, citingthedeathof arelativeinhis village.TheBharuchdistrictLocal Crime Branch team tracked Shailendra down and nabbed him from Jogipur in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district on Wednesday evening. According to the Bharuch C Division police, which are investigatingSachin’smurder,thetwo friends used to frequently argue about paying the installments of aloanof Rs4lakhthatSachinhad borrowed from a private financialinstitutionforShailendra.On the night of March 24, when the two met at Shailendra’s apartment in Haridham society in Bharuch, they allegedly argued over the payments that Shailendra owed Sachin, the police said. But the trigger, the po- lice said, were a few “objectionable”photosof Shailendra’swife that were allegedly stored in Sachin’s mobile phone. OnThursday,aBharuchcourt remanded Shailendra to eight days in police custody after the police sought a 10-day remand, based on the ground that much of the evidence needed to be gathered along with investigating the motive for the crime. 10-year-old friendship gone sour Bharuch C Division Police Inspector VR Bharwad told The Indian Express that until a couple of years ago, the two friends shared an apartment along with their families. It is during that time that Sachin allegedly recorded objectionable videos andphotosofhiswife,Shailendra told the police on Thursday. Bharwad said, “He has claimedduringtheinvestigation thatwhentheysharedtheapartment around 2023-24, Sachin recorded some objectionable videosandphotosof Shailendra's wife while she was using the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad