In light of the United States imposing reciprocal tariffs, India should consider withdrawing from “exploitative” World Trade Organization agreements, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was quoted as stating by PTI on Sunday.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

On April 2, the US announced that it was imposing “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries, including a 26% “discounted” levy on India, which will take effect on Wednesday.

Washington also announced a 10% minimum tariff on most goods imported into the country, which took effect on Saturday. The US government imposed a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles, which took effect on April 3.

On Sunday, Swadeshi Jagran Manch national co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan claimed that the Donald Trump administration imposing “unilateral” tariffs violated World Trade Organization rules.

“Now that we are witnessing a complete disregard for the WTO, it is time to think afresh about the agreements on TRIPS [Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights], TRIMS [Trade-Related Investment Measures], services and agriculture in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [GATT],” PTI quoted Mahajan as saying.

While TRIPS sets minimum standards for intellectual property protection to facilitate trade and innovation, TRIMS prohibits investment measures that restrict or distort trade. The two agreements are administered by the World Trade Organization.

GATT was an international agreement that aimed to reduce trade barriers. It was signed in 1947 by 23 countries and replaced by the World Trade Organization in 1995

Mahajan claimed that TRIPS had caused India “huge losses” in royalty expenditure and negatively impacted public health. Royalty expenditure by India, which was less than a billion US dollars in the 1990s, was now over $17 billion a year, he said.

He added that there was proof of multilateral agreements like the World Trade Organization not being good for developing countries like India.

“Bilateral agreements are most suited to Bharat,” PTI quoted Mahajan as saying. “Now the time has come that when developed countries like the US are completely disregarding the WTO [World Trade Organization], we should think of a strategy to come out of other exploitative agreements including TRIPS in the WTO.”

He added: “Now, we have to strategise our international trade to take advantage of this situation.”

Several sectors could benefit from a change in India’s international trade strategy, said Mahajan, adding that the country’s exports may find new markets in the US, while exports from China may suffer due to the high reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

“Also, as the EU [European Union] and other countries are coming forward for new partnerships in the global value chain in sectors like defence, we should promote and support our industries in acquiring foreign markets post-Trump’s tariffs,” the news agency quoted Mahajan as saying.

Trump had repeatedly said he intended to impose a reciprocal tax on India, among others, citing high tariffs the countries impose on foreign goods. He has already imposed tariffs on a range of products from Canada, Mexico and China.

The tariffs have led to concerns of a broader trade war that could disrupt the global economy and trigger recession.

The Indian government on Thursday said that it is “carefully examining the implications of the various measures” related to new tariffs announced by the US.

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