How India-US trade deal will impact our e-commerce firms
What's the story
Indian e-commerce start-ups are waiting for more details on India-US trade deal and its implications for their sector. Major players like Flipkart, Meesho, Snapdeal, Myntra, Ajio and Nykaa have limited dealings with the US. As a result, their initial excitement over this landmark agreement is somewhat muted. A senior executive at an e-commerce start-up said to Moneycontrol, there is no immediate impact/relief from this deal, even if it includes concessions permitting US e-commerce companies to hold inventory in India.
Reaction
Deal's impact hard to gage without more details
Another e-commerce firm founder said it's hard to comment on the deal's impact until more details are revealed. However, they believe it could be a positive move for the sector. A third senior executive from a different company said their business isn't making any changes or celebrating yet, as they don't expect much change in the e-commerce sector due to this trade deal between two of world's largest democracies.
Sector benefits
Sectors expected to benefit from trade deal
While e-commerce may not gain much from the India-US trade deal, other sectors like IT services, global capability centers (GCCs), data centers, agriculture, and technology are expected to benefit significantly. This is based on preliminary information available about the agreement. The deal has lowered tariffs on Indian exports to the US from 50% to 18%, while eliminating tariffs on US imports into India altogether.
Industry impact
Infrastructure improvements
The trade deal is expected to improve infrastructure for certain sectors, such as seafood exports, within e-commerce. Deepanshu Manchanda, the MD at Zappfresh (a seafood exporter), said eliminating tariffs on US imports will improve access to advanced cold storage systems, processing equipment and quality-control technologies. These improvements are crucial for food safety, shelf life and consistency. "Better access to proven global technologies can help improve reliability across sourcing, processing and last-mile delivery," he concluded.