Donald Trump Holds Off On Tariff Talk, Vodafone Gets Tax Relief, Paytm Q3 Commentary | Rise With Profit

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No news on tariffs from the 47^th President of the United States of America is good news for India and the rest of the Asia Pacific region this morning. In fact, all three early risers in the Asia Pacific region have opened positive— something of a rarity in the recent past. Let’s get straight to the details.

Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the US for his second term last night. It was widely anticipated that he would kick off his presidency with sweeping tariffs on the likes of China, Canada and Mexico. But that didn’t come to pass. In fact, the incoming administration will start with a potential engagement with Beijing, rather than another trade war, according to reports.

Trump will call for federal agencies to study tariff policies and the US’ trade relationship with China, Canada and Mexico, according to incoming officials for the Trump White House. That’s a report by Bloomberg. The planned move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by Trump officials, won’t impose new tariffs on Monday, but could set the stage for trade duties in the coming weeks or months.

The lack of any tariffs was seen as a positive by traders. Wall Street was shut overnight, but the dollar dropped sharply against major global currencies. The dollar index this morning was trading just lower than 108, having fallen from over 109 overnight.

For context, the dollar had rallied around 10% since September, alongside the surge in US Treasury yields of more than 100 basis points. That has, in turn, resulted in a selloff in equity markets globally, including in India.

Bear in mind, there’s no guarantee that tariffs won’t come through. In fact, as reported by Bloomberg, Trump has said that he is thinking of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

In more international news, President Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready for talks with the US on the war in Ukraine, as he offered congratulations to Donald Trump on his inauguration as president.

Trump spoke with reporters while signing executive orders. Among other things, he spoke about the war in Europe. He said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to make a deal. He said that he thought Russia’s President Vladimir Putin should make a deal, because the war was destroying Russia.

In news back home, the Supreme Court has upheld an order of the Bombay High Court whereby the income tax department was directed to refund Rs 1,128 crore to Vodafone Idea, along with interest. The top court dismissed the tax department’s appeal against the high court order on the ground of delay. By the way, the company has also clarified that it has not received any communication from the government on adjusted gross revenue dues. Shares of a few telecom companies, including Vodafone Idea, rose sharply yesterday on reports that the government was contemplating waiver of AGR dues.

In regulatory news, the Reserve Bank of India has announced the names of a five-member standing external advisory committee, which will evaluate license applications for universal and small finance banks, the central bank said in a press release. The tenure of the committee, which will be for three years, will be chaired by former RBI Deputy Governor M K Jain.

One97 Communications Ltd., the parent company of Paytm, plans to turn profitable in the next one or two quarters, according to Group Chief Financial Officer Madhur Deora said. He said that the company aims to be efficient as an organisation and drive higher revenue growth.

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