Rajeev Agrawal on tariff uncertainty and its impact on global market

«Still, it remains to be seen if that is what it is or this is actually a new world where we basically have everybody having a tariff barrier and the free trade that we have all grown up with becomes less and less,» says Rajeev Agrawal, DoorDarshi India Fund.

I guess all of us are hooked on to Trump's address, waiting to hear if he is going to say anything specific on Canada and Mexico tariffs or not. But how do you think this entire tariff tirade is going to really play out because the chatter in the US as well is tariffs are not good for them either.
Rajeev Agrawal: So, no, absolutely, tariffs have created a lot of uncertainty in the whole world and how they will play out. Initially, the expectation was that tariffs is a way for negotiation to ensure that US companies get their fair share when they go into other countries.

Still, it remains to be seen if that is what it is or this is actually a new world where we basically have everybody having a tariff barrier and the free trade that we have all grown up with becomes less and less.
So, it is still early days is what I will say and we will see how that plays out in the next few quarters.


As an investor though these are uncertain times and that is only putting it mildly. What is it that you do because one has seen cracks emerge in US markets as well. I mean, if you were to take stock of what, say, perhaps a Tesla return has been from the start of the year to now, it is getting a little alarming for them as well.
Rajeev Agrawal: The markets are very nervous