<b>Ajay Shah:</b> Donald Trump's benevolence

To the extent that body shopping is replaced by true offshoring, everyone is better off

Many in India are dismayed at the restrictions upon work visas that are being brought in by the Trump administration. However, the “body-shopping” business, which relies heavily on these work visas, is not optimal for India. When this easy choice is taken away, both ends of the business (in the US and in India) will converge on making true offshoring work. This is in India's interests.

The body-shopping business may be caricatured as follows. A company in the US replaces local engineers at $10,000 a month using Indian engineers at $5,000 a month. This trade is enabled by “work visas”, which