Category: USA
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The India–USA Free Trade Agreement: A Deal Bigger Than Trade
From Trade Deficits to Strategic Dependence Trade agreements were once simple documents designed to reduce tariffs and increase commerce. The future India–USA Free Trade Agreement is something very different. It is emerging at a time when economics, technology, security, supply chains, energy, and geopolitics have become deeply interconnected. This is…
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The Trade Agreement That Extends Beyond Tariffs
A New Chapter in India–US Economic Relations Trade negotiations between India and the United States have often moved through cycles of optimism, disagreement, compromise, and strategic recalibration. The latest discussions surrounding the first phase of an India–US trade agreement appear to be following a similar pattern. Yet beneath the headlines…
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From Tariff Arbitrage to Conditional Access: Bangladesh’s Apparel Advantage and Its Structural Limits
Historical Context: How Bangladesh Built a Tariff-Led Export Model The rise of Bangladesh as a global apparel powerhouse is not accidental; it is deeply rooted in a historical combination of preferential trade access, low-cost labor, and policy clarity. Since the 1990s, Bangladesh leveraged its Least Developed Country (LDC) status to…
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War, Inflation, and a Federal Reserve Under Strain: Reimagining the Future of the U.S. Economy
From Bretton Woods Stability to Wartime VolatilityThe United States economy, once anchored in the institutional stability of Bretton Woods and post-war industrial dominance, is increasingly entering a phase of structural uncertainty shaped by geopolitical conflicts and internal policy constraints. Historically, wars have acted as both stimulants and distorters of the…
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Strategic Competition Between the United States and China: The New Architecture of Global Power
Historical Roots of a Strategic Rivalry The strategic competition between the United States and China is not merely a geopolitical contest between two powerful nations; it represents a profound restructuring of the global economic and political order. Historically, global power transitions have often been accompanied by periods of instability. From…
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The Economic Impact of Escalating Iran–Middle East Tensions
Escalating tensions between Iran, Israel, and the United States as of early 2026 have reactivated one of the most historically persistent fault lines in global economics: the conflict-energy-inflation cycle. Every major Middle Eastern disturbance—from the 1973 Oil Embargo and Iran–Iraq War (1980s) to the 2019 tanker attacks—has triggered systemic economic…
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A World Becoming Smaller—But Not Closer
Over the past four decades, the world has become smaller in terms of communication, transportation, and information exchange. Digital platforms compress distances; logistics networks deliver goods overnight; and technologies such as AI and blockchain make cross-border collaboration seamless. However, paradoxically, global trade is becoming more distant, fragmented, and politically conditioned.…
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The Truth About the India–USA Trade Deal: What Really Happened and What It Really Means
Despite dramatic headlines and political messaging, India and the United States still do not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as of February 2026. What was announced between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not an FTA but a “limited trade understanding”—a narrow, transactional arrangement designed to…
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Global Growth Enters a Low-Gear Phase
The world economy is entering a distinctly different phase—neither overheating with inflationary pressure nor collapsing into recession. Instead, global growth is settling into a low-gear, below-trend trajectory that reflects structural adjustments across major economies. This new normal challenges the assumptions that shaped global policy, trade flows, and investment strategies over…
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Trade Uncertainty in the Shadow of a 500% Tariff Threat
Trade wars have always arrived dressed as morality plays. From the Smoot–Hawley tariffs of the 1930s to the technology embargoes of the 2010s, economic instruments have repeatedly been repurposed as geopolitical weapons. The current proposal emerging from Washington—backed publicly by Donald Trump—to impose up to 500% tariffs on countries purchasing…