Whether Trump will actually carry out his protectionist rhetoric like the time he said there’s job theft in America and India and China are mostly to blame for it will actually be carried out in practice, most professionals will have to wait and see.
The aviation industry seems to be one of the most apprehensive. At a major convention for airliners and its economics, consensus was that the effect of unconventional politics regardless whether they are translated into policies will be detrimental to the industry.
"People are in shock. It seems commentators misread the mood of the country," Reuters quoted a U.S. aerospace consultant as saying.
"Unfortunately, a lot of those answers are for protectionist policy solutions and air transport flourishes with open borders, so that is quite a dangerous development."
Reuters further reports Brian Pearce, chief economist of the International Air Transport Association as saying.
Stocks of some Asian airlines like Korean Airlines, Air China especially those with more exposure to global trade fell when the news of Trump winning hit. Toyota’s shares dropped 6.5 percent. The US is its largest market.
One area that could benefit is seen to be defence. Stocks of land mine manufacturer Ishikawa Seisaku increased after a Trump that pushes more for tightening of security was announced winner of the election.
In addition, acquisitions of US companies by Chinese ones will see a slowdown, the media agency reports.
Of the Indian IT companies that export services to the US, shares of Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys were quoted as being down “sharply”.
The Indian IT sector is seemingly on a bit of a down turn domestically. A Q2 financial results report by Info Edge, the parent of Naukri.com, which leads the job market websites in India said they had witnessed a reduction in IT-hire job postings, especially from IT hub Bangalore. And that has been a profitable area for them for the past five or six quarters.
The US-India trade policy forum (TPF) concluded last October addressed some of the problem IT professionals are dealing with while trying to work in America like the hike in visa fees, and the matter remains unresolved even despite India bringing up the matter with the WTO.
How exactly the new president of the US will affect Indian businesses we will only know with time. Some media outlets are of the opinion that Trump’s stance against the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal could help Indian exporters.
But according to Arup Roy, research director at Gartner a globally recognized research firm Trump’s election will impact the Indian IT sector, and all signs lead to an unfavourable forecast.
“Indian IT sector must now brace for further troubled times ahead. The sector was already battling both cyclical challenges (due to changes and shifts in financial services, healthcare verticals) as well as secular challenges (i.e., cloud shift, automation, pricing pressure, insourcing) impacting revenue growth. A sub 10% growth for FY2017 is certain. Now with Donald Trump, administration will add to the industry’s woes.
Trump administration's protectionist views would have further dampening impact on growth prospects, if the views were to crystalize into some serious policy implementations. However, what happens during campaigns and what actually transpires in office can vary greatly and we did get early signs of that in his victory speech, but at minimum it is headline risk and adds to the uncertain times.”
BW Reporters
Regina is a reporter for BW Businessworld. In her previous assignments, she has worked with Independent television Network as a news anchor and reporter in Sri Lanka
