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Political scientist Ian Bremmer described tech billionaire Elon Musk's USD 75 million bet on Donald Trump, who made a stunning comeback to the White House for a second term, as the "single best political bet" he saw in several decades.
Musk endorsed Trump earlier this year and aggressively campaigned for him in his successful White House bid.
In an exclusive interview with India Today's News Director Rahul Kanwal, Bremmer said Musk will prioritise having a technology policy under the Trump administration and stressed that AI is a "big advantage" for the US on the global stage.
"Trump doesn't really have a technology policy. Four years ago, that was not a priority at all, not domestically, not globally. Elon Musk obviously does. AI, in particular, is a very big advantage for the US on the global stage. And Elon, de facto, will be able to have a significant hand, maybe the primary hand, in capturing the regulatory, stimulus and subsidy policies on issues that are core to his businesses," he said.
"His USD 75 million bet on Trump is, frankly, the single best political bet I have seen in decades," Bremmer said. However, he expressed apprehension about whether Musk would be able to chalk out a deal between the US and China to curb tariff threats.
"Elon has a very big part of his business in China, particularly Tesla. And he's made trips to China... When he went to China, he put himself forward as, 'I'm the guy that can help you with Trump.' The Chinese are hoping that Elon is going to be their interlocutor," he added.
"On tariffs, I have a very hard time imagining that Musk may be able to make a deal between the Americans and the Chinese, and he is holding himself out like that," Bremmer said, while warning of repercussions from Beijing if Trump went ahead with his decision to impose tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump, who beat Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, has vowed to impose a 60 per cent tariff on Chinese goods and at least a 10 per cent levy on all other imports in his second term.
TRUMP'S PRESIDENCY AND INDIA-US TIES
Speaking about India's ties with the US under the Trump administration, Bremmer said New Delhi had no need to worry irrespective of whether Trump or Harris won the US elections. Bremmer pointed out that the Narendra Modi-led government had a strong relationship with Washington.
He underlined that the critical point for India was that Trump has a serious problem with China due to a burgeoning trade deficit.
"The only area of the economy that is outperforming is manufacturing. They are over-manufacturing, and they don't have domestic demand, which means there's lots of dumping all around the world, both directly to the US and also about how we are acting as a conduit through third-world countries like Mexico and India," he said.
Bremmer stressed that Trump would actively want to further decouple US investments away from China, which would be an opportunity for India.
"I think Trump and Robert Lighthizer, who's likely to run trade, as he did in the previous administration, will focus on what extent the Indians are acting as a conduit for Chinese exports, and making sure that there is coordination in preventing that or adequately tariffing that with the US. That will be a priority, and that will be brought to the Indian government early," he further said.
Published By:
Prateek Chakraborty
Published On:
Nov 7, 2024
