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  It appears from the timing and stature of Marco Rubio's visit to New Delhi, and Jaishankar's response that the US and India have both learned a lot on how to setup a vigorous relationship as business partners and as global powers, acting with maturity and patience. Rubio's very presence in New Delhi at a crucial moment in May, the fact that after the US president Marco Rubio is a popular and respected leader in the US. After talks with Marco Rubio, US Foreign Minister, India's Foreign Minister Jaishankar says he had a close relationship with Rubio. Rubio says the first person he saw after taking office onthe same day he first visited the State Department was Jaishankar, calling Jaishankar one of the best and most knowledgeable India has to offer. Jaishankar sees growing convergence in India's position with that of the US in West Asia for open maritime navigation, international law, and the importance of strategic trust partnerships and resilient supply chains to de-risk the global economy. Gone are the days when India caught up in a vague "non-alignment" movement that the Europeans are now practicing by distancing from the US, India accepts a robust US-India partnership in the interest of all countries.  Jaishankar put it this way to support the US-   “One, that we advocate dialogue and diplomacy to address conflicts. Two, we support safe and unimpeded maritime commerce. Three, we demand scrupulous respect for international law. Fourth, we are against the weaponisation of market shares and resources. And five, we believe in the value of trusted partnerships and resilient supply chains to de-risk the global economy. Rubio met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.  An interim agreement on trade is being prepared so that a final agreement on trade and investment can be signed. On energy India is keen on getting energy supplies from the US, - “We spent some time today discussing energy issues, and again, you’re all aware that our government’s fundamental responsibility is to address the needs of 1.4 billion people. Ensuring the accessibility and affordability of energy for them is our prime objective. Secretary and I therefore welcome the expansion in our energy trade in recent months. Diversified supplies are at the heart of energy security for India." ...

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PM of Sweden Ulf Kristersson on the Joint Statement of the Nordic nations with India. Joint Statement: 3rd India-Nordic Summit, Oslo, 19 May 2026 Published 19 May 2026 1.  Today in Oslo, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, the Acting Prime Minister of Denmark, Ms. Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister of Norway, Mr. Jonas Gahr Støre, the Prime Minister of Finland, Mr. Petteri Orpo, the Prime Minister of Iceland Ms. Kristrún Mjöll Frostadóttir, and the Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr. Ulf Kristersson, held the 3rd India-Nordic Summit hosted by the Norwegian Prime Minister. This Summit builds upon the previous two Summits held in Copenhagen in 2022 and Stockholm in 2018. 2. The Prime Ministers noted that they are meeting at a time of global geopolitical flux and rapid economic and technological transformation and agreed on the need to deepen the partnership between India and the Nordics for mutual benefit based upon shared interests and values and to cooperate in addressing global challenges. In this context, they decided to elevate the India-Nordic relationship to a trusted Green Technology and Innovation Strategic Partnership. 3.  As leaders of vibrant democracies and large open market economies, they underscored their shared interest in fostering a robust and resilient global order based on international law that promotes peace, stability, inclusive economic growth and sustainable development.  4. They reaffirmed their commitment to upholding international law, shared values and obligations including democracy, freedom, human rights, gender equality, rule of law, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and international peace and security in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Charter. 5.  The Leaders discussed international peace and security including the conflicts in Europe and the West Asia/Middle East. 6. They discussed opportunities for collaboration in trade and investment, blue economy, circular economy, digital infrastructure, digitalisation and artificial intelligence, climate action and energy security, fighting pollution, water, research and education, talent mobility, healthcare, space & geospatial sectors and defence. UN, multilateralism and international cooperation 7.   The leaders reiterated the importance of an effective multilateral system, with the United Nations at its core. They confirmed their commitment to work towards reforming the UN, including the UN Security Council, to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, accountable, effective and reflective of the contemporary geopolitical realities. The Nordic Prime Ministers reiterated the support of the Nordic countries for permanent membership for India in a reformed and expanded UN Security Council. The Nordic leaders welcomed India’s application to the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG), and emphasized the importance of the international multilateral export control regimes in upholding non-proliferation and international peace and security. Trade, investment and economic cooperation 8.  The leaders emphasised the importance of a continued central role for the World Trade Organization in the multilateral trading system and global trade governance. They underscored the importance of a fair, open, transparent, equitable, non-discriminatory, inclusive and rules-based multilateral trading system, with WTO at its core. 9.   They acknowledged the significant economic exchanges in the form of trade and investments between India and the Nordic countries in promoting sustainable economic growth, prosperity, circular economy, bioeconomy, sustainable development and supply chain resilience. 10. To facilitate trade and investments and contribute to the objective of sustainable development, they particularly welcomed the entry into force of the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership agreement and the conclusion of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement. The leaders also welcomed the active business exchanges in the margins of the Summit and highlighted the need of continued business exchanges to identify opportunities. The leaders stressed that in addition to the economic benefits by enhancing market access and removing trade barriers, the India-EU FTA and India-EFTA TEPA could support economic security and resilience through diversifying critical value chains and opening new markets. They welcomed the shared objectives under TEPA that EFTA states shall aim for investment of USD 100 billion leading to creation of one million direct jobs in India. 11.   The leaders further emphasized the need of undertaking initiatives to improve connectivity between the Nordic and the Indo-Pacific regions, including in line with the continued development of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. ...

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Supply chains to the Middle east disrupted by closing of Straits of Hormuz.

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Neil Irwin in the NYT says the price increases for many products may not be a sign of lasting inflation as the changes in pricing are a result of temporary changes in the global supply chain. The global supply chain is adjusting to these changes to moderate these price increases. 

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The escalating tariffs by the EU. China and the U.S. affects global supply chains after years companies spent in building the optimal chain and locations. Tpo avoid duties companies are looking at them again and relocating to avoid the duties.

 

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The long 1300 mile journey of a consumer good is tracked in this WSJ documentary to show how complicated and crazy supply chains have become. The pandemic and the war in Ukraine are leading to this realization about how crazy things have become, the shift to shorter supply chains and bringing  manufacturing home or closer to home. Factories half a world away with products that turn up on consumer shelves a year later, does this make sense anymore, is the question raised in this WSJ documentary. Not told is the story of how this impacts jobs at home and how it impacts everything in local communities which consume these products. On the tax revenues from missing local factories shipped overseas that did not build the necessary infrastructure that makes communities livable and the funding for schools and hospitals. And the good manufacturing jobs that are missing in these local communities in the US and European Union leading to the fraying of societies and the values that underpin them. ...

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A supply chain crisis with shortages of goods is affecting all economies in the world. The price of oil has increased to $80 and supply chain shortages are affecting most industries. Power shortages in China lead to cutbacks in consumption for industry and some large cities not having essential  electricity for traffic lights. Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted supply chain factories in Vietnam and Malaysia because of lockdowns. Once a product is manufactured it still has to be shipped from far flung places in today's cumbersome and costly supply chain. Cost of shipping is up 3 times according to one shipping index in one year. Prices to ship from China to Rotterdam in Netherlands is up 6 times in one year. Global supply chains at such high cost of shipping means that companies will look to invest in manufacturing at home so that they do not pay high shipping costs and also create jobs at home, and are able to build critical experience in manufacturing technology. ...

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Only about a third of the people in southeast Asia are fully vaccinated compared to 58% in the US. With growing inequality and a slowdown in production the supply chain in this region is hit hard. The region includes Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. This region's growth rate is cut from 4.4% in April to 2.5% for 2021 by the World Bank. Manila based Asian Development Bank forecast is for 3.1% growth as coronavirus outbreaks lead to major lockdowns. This happened in Malaysia, Cambodia, and Indonesia. It has also worsened the global supply chain disruptions from clothes to cars and commodities.

As supply chains are restructured, and western countries increase manufacturing at home to avoid higher shipping costs, uncertainty of far flung supply chains, production is likely to decline.

World Bank sees 24 million more people below the poverty line in Asia this year than projected earlier.

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Denmark's shipping company Maersk is a bellwether of global trade with 700, ships and managing port terminals, logistics. Maersk has a new CEO Vincent Clerc as the company takes on a challenging environment with disruptions in the the supply chain and in global shipping during the pandemic, and shift in supply chains to other countries in Asia including India and Vietnam.

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US DJT Tariffs impact 1 year later- global trade has held up well with US unemployment at 4.4% and economic growth at 2.1%. China imports down from 20% in 2016 to 10% ten years later in 2026. For DJT that was a promise kept leading to a sharp decoupling of the US economy from the Chinese economy that was leading to huge trade deficits of 1 trillion dollars. Too much of the world's supply chain was tied up with manufacturing in China. It got so bad under Reagan, the two Bushes, Clinton/Obama that the US and EU were facing deindustrialization with huge risks to the future of the US and Europe as industrial powers. 150 years of industrialization and scientific advancement, the great achievements of Europe and the United States since 1860's was going up in smoke over reckless policies of Republican and Democratic elites who gave little thought and barely understood the long run effects of their policies and textbook theories of the economy. Most economists from ivy league universities got it completely wrong. ...

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India reaches $400 billion in exports for 2021-2022. This is a significant increase from the pre covid export figure of $330 billion in 2018-2019 which slipped to $313 billion in 2019-2020. Frequent lockdowns marked the period of the pandemic.

India's industrial sectors play a large role, including cotton yarn and the apparel industry. With the global supply chains being restructured and shifted away from China, India is gaining a more significant role. Australian exports are up 94% and US exports up 47%. India is making an effort to become a key part of the new supply chain arrangements of US and Europe, along with Vietnam and Japan. As part of the supply chain India is increasing imports from other countries with imports reaching about $600 billion, up about one third in 2021-2022.

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This NYT report says US president Biden is different from past presidents in two ways. He is pushing for infrastructure spending on a big scale from the very beginning of his administration. He is also not interested in shrinking his plans for multi-trillion dollar infrastructure spending to win support from Republicans. A big reason is that he sees the opportunity to go ahead because the perceptions of the American people have changed in the last five years, and have changed even more in the last year with the pandemic. Health, education,  infrastructure, and competitive technology leadership resource development spending with government playing a leading role is seen as indispensable for the US as a nation if it is to play the leading role that it has played over much of the last 100 years. Government leadership is seen as indispensable including in redesigning the existing global supply chain so that the US is no longer dependent on other nations and taking on risks. ...

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Marco Rubio speaks for the US with profound convictions and long experience in the Florida legislature and the US Senate, and as akey member of the DJT administration. In his speech in Munich at the MSC he recalls his grandparents being from Piedmeont Sardinia in Italy and from Sevilla in Spain. He talks proudly of his Spanish and Italian heritage, of America founded by European settlers. For Europe this is a speech that shows America is profoundly part of Western Civilization that started in Europe. Here are some parts of the speech and Rubio's call for America and Europe to respond strongly to the mistakes in migration and deindustrialization that have hurt the people of Europe and America, with deeply felt negative consequences. "That infamous wall that had cleaved this nation into two came down, and with it an evil empire, and the East and West became one again.  But the euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion:  that we had entered, quote, “the end of history;” that every nation would now be a liberal democracy; that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood; that the rules-based global order – an overused term – would now replace the national interest; and that we would now live in a world without borders where everyone became a citizen of the world.  This was a foolish idea that ignored both human nature and it ignored the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history.  And it has cost us dearly.  In this delusion, we embraced a dogmatic vision of free and unfettered trade, even as some nations protected their economies and subsidized their companies to systematically undercut ours – shuttering our plants, resulting in large parts of our societies being deindustrialized, shipping millions of working and middle-class jobs overseas, and handing control of our critical supply chains to both adversaries and rivals.  We increasingly outsourced our sovereignty to international institutions while many nations invested in massive welfare states at the cost of maintaining the ability to defend themselves.  This, even as other countries have invested in the most rapid military buildup in all of human history and have not hesitated to use hard power to pursue their own interests.  To appease a climate cult, we have imposed energy policies on ourselves that are impoverishing our people, even as our competitors exploit oil and coal and natural gas and anything else – not just to power their economies, but to use as leverage against our own.  And in a pursuit of a world without borders, we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people.  We made these mistakes together, and now, together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward, to rebuild.  Under President Trump, the United States of America will once again take on the task of renewal and restoration, driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as vital as our civilization’s past.  And while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe.  For the United States and Europe, we belong together.  America was founded 250 years ago, but the roots began here on this continent long before.  The man who settled and built the nation of my birth arrived on our shores carrying the memories and the traditions and the Christian faith of their ancestors as a sacred inheritance, an unbreakable link between the old world and the new.  We are part of one civilization – Western civilization.  We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilization to which we have fallen heir. And so this is why we Americans may sometimes come off as a little direct and urgent in our counsel.  This is why President Trump demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe.  The reason why, my friends, is because we care deeply.  We care deeply about your future and ours.  And if at times we disagree, our disagreements come from our profound sense of concern about a Europe with which we are connected – not just economically, not just militarily.  We are connected spiritually and we are connected culturally.  We want Europe to be strong.  We believe that Europe must survive, because the two great wars of the last century serve for us as history’s constant reminder that ultimately, our destiny is and will always be intertwined with yours, because we know – (applause) – because we know that the fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own.  National security, which this conference is largely about, is not merely series of technical questions – how much we spend on defense or where, how we deploy it, these are important questions.  They are.  But they are not the fundamental one.  The fundamental question we must answer at the outset is what exactly are we defending, because armies do not fight for abstractions.  Armies fight for a people; armies fight for a nation.  Armies fight for a way of life.  And that is what we are defending: a great civilization that has every reason to be proud of its history, confident of its future, and aims to always be the master of its own economic and political destiny. It was here in Europe where the ideas that planted the seeds of liberty that changed the world were born.  It was here in Europe where the world – which gave the world the rule of law, the universities, and the scientific revolution.  It was this continent that produced the genius of Mozart and Beethoven, of Dante and Shakespeare, of Michelangelo and Da Vinci, of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  And this is the place where the vaulted ceilings of the Sistine Chapel and the towering spires of the great cathedral in Cologne, they testify not just to the greatness of our past or to a faith in God that inspired these marvels.  They foreshadow the wonders that await us in our future.  But only if we are unapologetic in our heritage and proud of this common inheritance can we together begin the work of envisioning and shaping our economic and our political future. Deindustrialization was not inevitable.  It was a conscious policy choice, a decades-long economic undertaking that stripped our nations of their wealth, of their productive capacity, and of their independence.  And the loss of our supply chain sovereignty was not a function of a prosperous and healthy system of global trade.  It was foolish.  It was a foolish but voluntary transformation of our economy that left us dependent on others for our needs and dangerously vulnerable to crisis. Mass migration is not, was not, isn’t some fringe concern of little consequence.  It was and continues to be a crisis which is transforming and destabilizing societies all across the West.  Together we can reindustrialize our economies and rebuild our capacity to defend our people.  But the work of this new alliance should not be focused just on military cooperation and reclaiming the industries of the past.  It should also be focused on, together, advancing our mutual interests and new frontiers, unshackling our ingenuity, our creativity, and the dynamic spirit to build a new Western century.  Commercial space travel and cutting-edge artificial intelligence; industrial automation and flex manufacturing; creating a Western supply chain for critical minerals not vulnerable to extortion from other powers; and a unified effort to compete for market share in the economies of the Global South.  Together we can not only take back control of our own industries and supply chains – we can prosper in the areas that will define the 21st century." ...

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Modi tells the Voice of Global South virtual Summit - "Developing countries desire globalization that doesn't create climate crisis or debt crisis, that doesnt lead to unequal distribution of vaccines, or over-concentrated global supply chains." He pointed out that what was needed was "globalization that brings prosperity and well being to humanity as a whole. In short human-centric globalization."

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The impact on global trade of the pandemic is uneven with faster recovery in export led economies China, Germany and South Korea, and slower recovery in U.S., France and India. Export shipping from ports in Ningbo, China, Hamburg, Germany, and Los Angles, U.S. are gradually returning to normal. Yet the impact on orders from the U.S. for Chinese companies is slow compared to before the pandemic and some companies in China says the orders are placed to meet current demand but future demand is uncertain. As trade recovers the U.S. and European policy on supply chain renewal is leading to companies redoing their supply chains. This means less manufacturing in China and more in the U.S., Europe and other parts of the world following the pandemic.

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Supply chains are unraveling in many industries with the tariffs imposed by president Trump on imports from China, and renegotiated trade deals with South Korea and other countries. The growth in the value of foreign value added was possible with cuts in tariffs in the period after 1990 and the emergence of China as a low cost manufacturer with cheap labor. Foreign value added increased from 20% in 1990 to 30% in 2011. The impact on factory towns and communities in the U.S. of trade in which the U.S. manufacturing declined as it shifted to China resulted in the surge in support for president Trump. The tariffs war with China is an effort to correct this imbalance. The result is a shift in supply chains away from China in some industries and gradual shift in others. Rising wages in China had already resulted in early shifts and the the environmental costs adding to this trend. President Trump temporarily suspended a threatened imposition of duties of 25% on $325 billion of Chinese imports. A renegotiated Nafta agreement with Mexico for automobile production and determination of U.S. based content and wages was designed to reset the relationship with Mexico and the auto supply chain for production in Mexico. A threat of tariffs on European auto imports to the U.S. is set for a decision in November. The trade dispute between Japan and South Korea and threat of tariffs also shows the effect this is having in other countries. With the U.S. looking at its own interest in the global supply chain and its advantage or disadvantage, industries and companies are not free to make decisions based on which country offers the best arrangement and deal for manufacturing. Notions of competitive advantage in the tech race with China are affecting the way the U.S. and European nations are acting. ...

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Indian Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal says India represents only 2% of overall global exports. This means there is a great opportunity today to double this even as global trade slows because of the small size it is now and the policy of resilient supply chains sought by the US and EU. A country India's size and technological capacity would in normal situation have 10% or 15% of global exports he said, so that there was a huge opportunity for growth.

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Sandhya Sharma of The Economic Times puts a spotlight on the dominant role of China in global shipping by 2005. In 1980 China had a tiny role in global shipping, with bicycles a dominant form of transportation in Beijing. By 2019 this role had expanded to dominant position in all the largest modern technology container ports with global shipping volume having more than doubled since 2005. Much of this was done by working with major providers of container port technology such as Maersk of Denmark and other European shipping companies, with imported technology playing a critical part. India is starting from basics in its effort to develop its shipping in the Indian Ocean region with its large coastline facing the Suez Canal and the eastern coastline facing Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. This was evident during the recent "Atman Nirbhar" global shipping meeting in Vizag- the Maritime India Summit 2021. The goal is to make the next decade one of rapid development of the maritime sector to secure India's position in global shipping particularly in the Indian Ocean region. Collaboration with major European technology providers will play a key role in developing container ports to the levels required for India's future role in global shipping. Sharma discusses the visit of premier Boris Johnson in April 2021 to India to forge strong trade ties.  The Indian prime minister held virtual meetings with premiers of Sweden and the Netherlands, two major maritime nations in Northern Europe for stronger trade and technology ties. These ties are part of the broader effort by the US, UK, and European Union countries to forge strong trade and technology ties with India now that it is clear to them that new supply chain will be needed over the next decade as China disengages from that level of its trade ties with Europe, US and India. New global supply chain means new global shipping container ports and global shipping links of India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, with the US and Europe. Looking at what happened between sometime in 1995 and 2005, and in 2005 to 2009 when the global financial crisis hit, when China went from a miniscule level of world trade to predominance. And the years of the Obama administration 2008-2016 when this simply continued without any understanding of its implications for both sides, to levels of China's predominance in world shipping that can only be considered as unbelievable. Growing at over 12% through continued use of  imported technology from Europe and the US. Looking back at what happened one sees that this made China over dependent, its economy too intertwined with Europe and the US. This also made the US and Europe over dependent on China in its supply chain. It took the pandemic and the one term Trump administration, the crisis in Hong Kong, the situation in Ladakh and India's norther border, the South China seas and Vietnam,  for both sides to realize this was not in the interest of any of the countries involved.   ...

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Global Foundries based in New York and STMicroelectronics based in Switzerland are teaming up to invest $5.7 billion for a semiconductor factory in Crolles, in southeastern France. The French government will provide additional funding and support for a new home based technology supply chain. The plant will create 1000 jobs.

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Global trade flows should slow from 9% increase in 2021 to 3.5% in 2022 as the economies of EU, US and China slowdown, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO). This should also ease supply chain bottlenecks and inflationary price increases as demand declines across the EU, US, China and other countries.