Commercial conflicts under Trump
Customs dispute makes India more attractive for investments
The trade conflict between the United States and China discourages companies – some want to invest more in India. At the same time, the fear is growing that a similar fiasco is repeated as in China.
In view of the customs dispute between the USA and China, German companies want to expand their business in India. 79 percent of the companies surveyed planned investments there by 2030, according to a survey by the auditing company KPMG and the German-Indian Chamber of Commerce. This year it was only 53 percent. A good one third (35 percent) are ongoing sums of over five million euros by 2030. The background is the rivalry between the USA and China, which have only partially settled in their escalated customs dispute.
Hope for advantages in India
India is the winner of the tensions, the study said for which 97 companies were interviewed in spring. Accordingly, every second (50 percent) expects the rivalry between the USA and China to have positive consequences for their business in India. Almost every fifth respondent (18 percent) fears negative effects on their own India business-for example from trading barriers.
“India is not primarily in the focus of the US tariffs and not affected by the counter-tariffs in China,” says Andreas Glunz, Head of International Business at KPMG. In addition, it should be expected that India will be proven with lower US tariffs within Asia and thus enjoy relative advantages.
Fear of the China effect
Although companies are optimistic about their business in India, 47 percent fear that Indian companies could be superior to them on a five -year perspective. In the event of a survey in the previous year, only 25 percent stated.
“German companies fear that the China effect in India could repeat itself: In the medium term, they believe that new serious competition grows here-not only in India and Asia, but on the world market,” says Glunz. Investments in India are therefore very popular.
According to the survey, more than half of the respondents (56 percent) want to use the country as a production location for the regional market by 2030. India counts for the five most important markets for 68 percent.
dpa
Source: Stern
