Donald Trump – American votes decide world’s fate

Donald Trump’s triumph came as a shocker for many and can also prove to be a starting point of apprehensions for the Indian Americans

Endless predictions and speculations about the US presidential elections came to a conclusion with Donald Trump emerging as a surprise winner and was elected as the 45th president of the United States of America yesterday. While the American voters have chosen their new leader, this can prove to be a whirl of eddies for India and Indian Americans.

While the pre-poll predictions of the US elections showed that Americans preferred Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump as their new president, the latter won the presidency on November 9, 2016.His take-over as the new president came as a shocker for many and can also prove to be a starting point of apprehensions for the Indian Americans.

4 million Indians are currently residing and working in America and Donald Trump’s manifestations for the immigrants are leaving them perturbed.

Donald Trump proposed a wall to stem illegal immigration in the US and said that the illegal immigrants, such as the Indians, were the ones to benefit as opposed to those who entered legally. His words have caused concerns among Indian immigrants, especially who have white collar jobs and are in the Information Technology (IT) sector.

Trump often targets India accusing it of taking unjust advantage of the United States. And thus, many Indian business leaders are pointing at how the Trump presidency could negatively impact the country and its economy.

“H-1B, I use it but I don’t like it. I want to scrap all H-1B visas,” said Trump in one of his debates, which is an issue of concern for India and its growth.

H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the US under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.

Many Indian companies like Tata, Infosys and Wipro majorly use the H-1B service and Trump whined that because of the availability of these visas, America is losing on talented people. “They go to Harvard. They go to Yale. They go to Princeton. They come from another country, and they are immediately sent out. I am in favour of keeping these talented people here so they can go to work in Silicon Valley,” he said.

Immediate after-effects

eBay Inc, an American multinational corporation and e-commerce company, reduced its workforce from 300 employees to 200 employees at its technology centre in the Indian city of Bengaluru within hours of Trump being elected, and is now shifting work to other global centres.

Trump had earlier said that if he is elected, he would ask Apple Inc, the American multinational technology company, to build its systems in the US rather than in other countries.

Along with this, he also promised to impose a 35 pc duty on Ford cars made in Mexico and other foreign countries. US car giant Ford has manufacturing plants in Chennai, Pune and a new factory in Gujarat, which it plans to use to increase the number of cars it exports out of India.

“Together, we are delivering Prime Minister Modi’s vision for India. We are happy to be making in India for India and for the world,” Mark Fields, Chief Executive, Ford, had earlier stated.

But if Trump finds his way, situations may get rough as he had proposed to charge tariff on America’s largest trade partners, which would include cars and auto parts made in India.

With the election results turning in favour of the new president, India can only hope that things don’t change for worse.