Trump's GSP threat: Why India's economic situation calls for cool heads

Demand for Indian goods in the rest of the world needs to perk up to create space for GDP growth and job creation

President Donald Trump just piled another problem on to the already-full slate of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By removing zero-duty access for $6.3 billion of Indian goods, the US leader threatens growth at a time when India’s economy can least afford it.

The country’s unemployment rate was at a 45-year high of 6.1% in the year to June 2018, while economic growth in the March quarter of 2019 slowed to a five-year low of 5.8%, data released Friday showed. Publication of the jobless statistic was held back until after Modi won last month’s general election and took his oath