India's Tech Dreams: A Global Chip Gamble Fueled by Fear of Tariffs
📰 THE STORY: The Financial Times reports that India is ramping up government spending and investing heavily in semiconductor manufacturing to prepare for potential trade tariffs under a future Donald Trump presidency, aiming for economic self-reliance and boosting its domestic technology sector. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: This isn't India's first rodeo with protectionism
and industrialization. Post-independence, India, under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, pursued a policy of import substitution industrialization, establishing state-owned enterprises and heavy tariffs to reduce reliance on foreign goods. While meant to foster self-sufficiency, it also led to inefficiencies and slower integration into the global economy, a lesson often glossed over in optimistic
narratives of 'Make in India.' Moreover, the US-led chip blockade against China, intensified since 2022, has created an artificial market vacuum and an incentive for allies to step up production, rather than purely organic economic growth. Double Standard: When Western nations, particularly the US (e.g., CHIPS Act 2022), pour billions into domestic semiconductor production, it's hailed as
'strategic investment' and 'national security.' When a developing nation like India does the same, particularly in response to potential protectionist threats from a global hegemon, it's often framed as 'hedging against tariffs' or a 'response to trade wars,' implying a reactive rather than truly sovereign initiative. The media rarely critiques Western industrial policy with the same