II - INTERNAL ASSESMENT

NAME - SANKET MUDAKANNAVAR

COURSE - BA.LL.B. (H)
SUBJECT - Political Science - III
PRN - 22010125468
YEAR - SECOND YEAR
SEMESTER - FOURTH
DIVISION - E
TOPIC - AMERICA FIRST ’ POLICY
BATCH - 2022-20227
LEADER SELECTED: DONALD TRUMP
 1. INTRODUCTION:
 President Donald J. Trump declares an America First approach to trade and
international policy in his inaugural speech, focusing on lowering trade
deficits for the United States and redistributing burdens among allies. Trump
asserts that "it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first" and
pledges to "unite the civilised world against radical Islamic terrorism." This
policy basis it’s focus on two main principles, ‘non-intervention’ and
nationalism.

2. CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

 The contemporary relevance of this policy in linkage to the world cannot be
doubted. It’s been proven time and again as to how America is the world’s
superpower – with its influence in the areas of soft and hard power, a booming
financial sector, powerful military and economic gains – it leaves the other
nations far behind. So, this protectionist policy that Trump has adopted is
bound to have a global impact in all aspects especially trade but the cons
outweigh the pros.

 Whatever tolerance most Americans had for the global role the United States
embraced after World War II began to fade with the collapse of the Soviet
Union and was shattered by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the 2008
financial crisis. At the outset, there was an increasingly dangerous world—
with populists, nationalists and demagogues on the rise; autocratic powers
growing in strength and increasing aggression; division and self-doubt was on
the rise, democracy under siege and vulnerable to foreign manipulation. The
new challenges of our own century add onto it—from cyberwarfare to mass
migration to a warming planet—that no one nation can meet alone and no wall
can contain. In terms of Preventive Diplomacy and development-
responsible foreign policy prevents or controls crises before they escalate.
Diplomacy and military deterrence are needed and the current administration
is undervaluing that. With a depleted senior diplomatic corps and critical
postings left unfilled, cuts to foreign aid, tariffs targeting the closest allies of
US, and low confidence in its own leadership, one of greatest assets: the
ability to defuse disputes and rally others is being depleted. Diplomacy needs
deterrence as geopolitical competition heats up. Modernization, preparedness,
asymmetric capabilities, and force structure must be balanced.

 Where Trade and technology is involved, Trump views it as a zero-sum

game where "winning" means generating more money. But reality is more
complex than that. Global trade and rapid technology progress are disruptive.
It can widen the wealth divide and raise fears of job losses if mismanaged.
One cannot rebuild the 1950s industrial economy, nor should the 1930s
protectionism be adopted - that destroyed the global economy and accelerated
world war. China wins when America leaves Trade accords like the Trans-
Pacific Partnership1. They get to shape global trade and innovation to their
advantage. It’s important to lead in new technologies, especially artificial
intelligence, which will change the global power balance. Competition should
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https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/01/04/america-first-is-only-making-the-
world-worse-heres-a-better-approach/
 be in a rules-based system that safeguards people against aggressive state
capitalism in modern autocracies. Utilising market power to set the greatest
standards for protecting employees, the environment, intellectual property,
middle-class wages, transparency, and basic business reciprocity. Government
and the private sector must renew investments in human resources—through
affordable education, training, health care infrastructure, and research. Budget
and tax policy should prioritise national needs.

 The main concern facing the community of democracies today is the

emergence of an alternative, techno-authoritarian paradigm of governance.
Autocrats have turned the methods of social control they use at home into
weapons to foment discord both within and across democracies because they
are afraid of the power and allure of democracy. In addition to military
defence, an organization—whether it be a league of democracies or a
democratic cooperative network—would also address cybersecurity and other
challenges that democracies confront today, such as terrorism and election
meddling.

 In terms of Immigration and Refugees, America need to contend with the

most divisive and destabilizing phenomenon in geopolitics: mass migration.
Democracies have a responsibility and a right to humanely regulate their
borders. Yet barbed wire and bayonets won't work to fix the issue when
conflicts and economic, political, and climatic disasters force people from
their homes. The United States must take the lead in tackling the causes and
effects of migration, while allied democracies struggle to deal with rising
migrant and refugee flows. That calls for doing more, not less, to avert
conflict, strengthen and fortify democratic institutions, aid those who are less
able to resist the shocks of migration.

3. HOW IT IS CRUCIAL FOR DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACT ON

GLOABAL SENARIO –
With America being the world’s super power, this policy has had far reaching global
impacts as mentioned below –
 TPP withdrawal –
 Trump directed the Office of the U.S. on January 23rd 2017, to remove the
United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact with twelve
countries that focuses on Asia and was supported by the United States
throughout Barack Obama's presidency.

 Travel Ban –
 The president issued an executive order on January 27th 2017 barring citizens
of six nations with a majority of Muslims from visiting the US for 90 days.
The directive also permanently halts the admission of Syrian refugees, though
it was later modified to include two more nations. A series of legal challenges
are launched when a federal court in Washington State partially invalidates the
order a few days later. Trump issues two further executive orders pertaining to
immigration that same week. One prohibits so-called sanctuary cities from
receiving federal funding, while the other directs monies to the construction of
a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
 Striking Syria –
 On April 7th 2017, Trump authorized for a limited cruise missile strike on the
Shayrat Air Base, which is in the control of the regime, in response for Syrian
President Bashar al-use Assad's of the deadly weapon sarin in an attack
against people. Russia consistently obstructs American-backed resolutions at
the UN Security Council that target the dictatorship.

 Revisiting NAFTA –
 On 18th May 2017, Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, informs
Congress of the White House's intention to "modernise" the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The administration wanted to renegotiate
the deal, to which Canada and Mexico were also parties, to reduce the goods
trade deficit in the United States, get rid of unfair subsidies, bring back
manufacturing jobs, and relax intellectual property restrictions.

 Going Abroad –
 May 20th-27th, 2017
 Trump travelled to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, Italy, the Vatican
City, Belgium, and other countries on his first international tour as president.
He delivered a speech urging the Muslim world to band together against
terrorism at a meeting with leaders from more than fifty Arab and Muslim-
majority countries in Riyadh. Trump addresses the leaders of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, urging them to "finally
contribute their fair share" to the alliance. He did not, however, make it clear
that he agreed with NATO's mutual defence commitment in Article 5. The
United States joins an unified declaration on combating protectionism but
withholds its support from one confirming the Paris climate pact at the Group
of Seven (G7) meeting, which Trump attended in Italy.

 Leaving the Paris agreement-

 Trump declared on June 1st, 2017, that the United States will leave the 2015
Paris climate deal, which was also negotiated by Obama. The 195-nation deal,
under which the United States would have voluntarily reduced its carbon
emissions, was condemned by Trump for impinging on American sovereignty,
damaging American jobs, and disadvantageous to the country's economy.

 Navigating Qatar Crises –

 June 5th, 2017 on the grounds that Qatar supports terrorism and Iranian
adventurism, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt
severed their diplomatic ties with the country. Trump initially applauded the
decision even though Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, and Jim Mattis, the
secretary of defence, are working to strengthen relations between the United
States and Qatar, which is home to the al-Udeid Air Base, the regional
headquarters of U.S. Central Command.

 Rolling back ties with Cuba –

 Trump declared a partial rollback of the Obama administration's détente with
Cuba on June 16th, 2017. The United States reimposed travel and economic
restrictions on Cuba in accordance with the recently issued rules without
 cutting diplomatic ties. The U.S. embassy in Havana's workforce is cut in half
by the Trump administration in September 2017.

 Trump meets Putin –

 July 5th – 8th
 Trump highlighted a struggle for the West's civilisation in an address while in
Warsaw, and for the first time, he specifically mentioned NATO's mutual
defence clause. Trump traveled to Germany for the Group of Twenty summit,
where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time as president.
In light of continuing inquiries into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S.
elections, the encounter is eagerly anticipated.

 A war of Words with North Korea

 On 8th August 2017, After Pyongyang threatened to launch ballistic missiles
into the waters around Guam, Trump warns that North Korea will be met with
“fire and fury” if it continues to threaten launches. The remark initiates hostile
rhetorical exchanges that culminate with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
insulting Trump.

 New Afghan Strategy –

 In a speech on 21st August 2017, Trump said that the American role in
Afghanistan will now emphasise counterterrorism. He declared that he will
increase the number of American forces there and relax the rules of
engagement. Timetables for deployment were not mentioned.

 Winding down DACA-

 On 5th September 2017, The Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) programme will start to wind down in six months, leaving
about 800,000 participants susceptible to deportation, according to Trump and
Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump urges Congress to pass legislation to
replace DACA2.
 From revisiting the Iran Deal, to making a UN debut, from recognizing
Jerusalem to announcing Tariffs the list goes on and the landmark mentioned
above are the ones that had a significant impact on the global political scenario
in terms of America’s relations with other countries.

4. IMPACT OF THIS POLICY ON INDIA –

 Indian-American interactions are viewed by many decision-makers and
analysts in Washington, DC, as an example of American compassion. Hence,
a faction of the US establishment has consistently argued for demanding more
money from India.

 The Donald Trump administration is tightening trade restrictions against

India in order to advance its America First strategy. The bilateral trade
relationship between India and the US, which is likely the foundation upon
which the rest of the geo-strategic edifice relies, is exhibiting significant
fissures just as it appeared that they had put their historical disagreements to

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https://www.cfr.org/timeline/trumps-foreign-policy-moments
 rest and triumphed over years of mutual mistrust. The H1B visa, which is the
primary entrance visa used by Indian IT businesses to transfer IT workers to
the US, first came into effect, along with restrictions on work permits for the
spouses of those who were granted them. Then, after the US President
complained for a long time about allegedly high Indian import tariffs on US
goods, particularly Harley Davidson motorcycles, of which only a small
number are imported into India, Washington decided to refuse some Indian
goods duty-free access to the US market under the Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP), which requires developed countries to grant this
concession to developing ones. Today, the US seeks to revoke India's (and
China's) classification as a developing country on the basis that they are
experiencing the world's fastest (and second fastest) economic growth,
respectively. This criticism stems from President Trump's long-standing
animosity towards India's trade surplus with the US and its allegedly lax
intellectual property rights (IPR) laws, which allow its generic drug industry to
produce low-cost versions of off-patent medications originally created by US
pharmaceutical giants. It is a sizable laundry list of grievances.

A. The final geopolitical piece

 Six Westinghouse AP-1000 nuclear reactors were be provided by the US to
India for a power plant being built in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh
but because of its extreme sensitivity, countries that possess it only share their
most reliable allies. The Pentagon later endorsed New Delhi's right to develop
the capability to protect itself against strikes from space after India became
only the fourth nation in the world to declare its anti-satellite weapons
capability. This response, which came from the US Defense Department,
demonstrated how far the two nations had come from the times when such a
test would have been received with unrestrained contempt and derision. US
put sanctions against India for purchasing the Russian S-400 Triumf missile
system which is also expected to be lifted.
 The growing number of disputes over bilateral trade conflicts with the
convergence of strategic interests, particularly those related to international
terrorism, China's rise, and the significance of preserving peace and stability in
the Indo-Pacific region. The leaderships of the two nations have been working
hard over the past few decades to move past the baggage of the previous
decades, when India and the US consistently found themselves on opposite
sides of nearly every issue of mutual concern. Although the Trump
administration's quite unnecessary trade bluster does not yet threaten to
reverse the gains of the previous 20 years, it is turning Indo-US relations back
into a zero-sum game that benefits neither side, especially given the near
complete convergence of the two nations' worldviews on the most crucial
foreign policy and strategic issues.

B. Sufficient room for movement

 To be clear, none of the American threats have resulted in acts that could harm
India as of yet. The US administration has to announce the cessation of GSP
benefits within 60 days after declaring it. Two senators from the Republican
and Democratic parties have written to US Trade representative, Robert
Lighthizer , requesting that the GSP benefits be extended until the conclusion
of the current general elections in India. This is a clear indication of the broad
 bipartisan support that India enjoys on Capitol Hill and highlights the
significance of India to the US.

C. India is in wait-and-see mode

 India, for its part, has held off on any impulsive responses to the US's clumsy
attempts to get India toe the line. Although it has prepared a list of American
imports for which it will levy retaliatory tariffs in the event that the US
follows through on its threat, it has postponed not fewer than six times
notifying those imports in order to give discussions a chance. But Trump's "go
for broke" strategy might be impeding prospects for a negotiated resolution of
the trade fight. The US has reportedly asked for tariff concessions worth up to
$3.2 billion on its IT and medical device exports to India in exchange for
reinstating GSP benefits of between $190 million and $240 million3. This
tactic is reminiscent of prior eras of uneven trade deals. Then, when one
considers that India's surplus has been constantly declining over the years –
from $24.4 billion in 2016 to $22.3 billion in 2017 to $21.3 billion last year –
one can see why Trump's criticisms about the balance of trade between the
two countries also seem unreasonable. India is actually the only significant
trading partner with whom the US has seen a constant decline in its trade
imbalance.

D. Real objectives
 As a result, many analysts believe that Trump's real targets lie elsewhere,
including recent Indian price caps on medical devices that have hurt major US
corporations as well as India's new regulations for e-commerce companies and
data localization, which have an impact on US companies like Amazon,
Walmart, and Visa. Secondly, to replace its ageing fleet of Russian-built
MiGs, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is still searching for more than 100 combat
aircraft. Together with aircraft from Russia and Western Europe, the F-16 and
F-18 from Lockheed Martin and the United States are engaged in combat.
Some analysts believe that the latest trade sanctions may be an attempt to
skew India's options in favour of the American aircraft. This IAF order, which
will be the largest single purchase of fighter jets in decades, may be
highlighted. It will be a tremendous windfall for whatever business or group
wins it.

E. Pushing India too hard might not be the best idea

 The US President's advisers did well to warn him that Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi is an expert at hard-bargaining while staring people in the eye.
Washington should be aware that New Delhi's announcements on e-commerce
and data localization are motivated by the need to ensure fair competition,
create jobs for the millions of young people who enter the workforce each
year, and protect the privacy of Indian citizens. Additionally, the issue of price
caps on medical devices is closely related to Modi's pledge to provide affordable healthcare
to India's poor.

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https://www.indiaglobalbusiness.com/igb-archive/roads-gadkari-indias-trillion-dollar-man