Apropos ‘India, US trade deal only after Section 301 probe is concluded’ (June 9), the US has not been completely fair in either dealing with India or in negotiating on trade deal all along. The latest US salvo is the expected additional tariff under Section 301, which is archaic and does not have any relevance for the current times. Forced labour is a malady of the industrial past of many many countries, including the US. Trump has announced the 301 investigations only after the US Supreme Court has struck down his abnormal and varying across the board tariffs imposed on most of the US trade partners. As Trump is completely transactional in his dealings with nations, India should also adopt the same mode of negotiations and root for a trade deal with 100 per cent protection for vulnerable sectors of the Indian economy.

Kosaraju Chandramouli

Hyderabad

Raising deposits

With reference to ‘Mind the gap’ (June 9), the rising C-D ratios of banks are likely to create asset-liability mismatches since banks will be forced to seal the gap through high-cost market borrowings which may drain profits ultimately. Equally, the overall investor sentiment presently is subdued due to high market volatility in all the segments — equity, debt, bullion, mutual funds and angel investments.

For banks, sourcing of low-cost deposits may not be easy, due to falling depositor interest in banking channels owing to low rates of interest, mounting cybercrimes, major bank frauds, large scale diversion of depositor money to nurture dishonest promoter groups by some co-operative and private banks, etc. Apart from offering higher interest rates on deposits, banks should aim to make the best use of the recent regulatory incentives provided to garner NRI deposits and FPI investments, to supplement their treasury income.

Sitaram Popuri

Bengaluru

Disinvestment proceeds

This refers to ‘Divestment mop-up in 2 months of FY 27 tops FY 25 collection’ (June 9). Disinvestment is a vital capital receipt of the government. It is imperative that it uses the proceeds for productive investments and creation of assets. In other words, it should not use them for meeting the revenue expenditure, which can exacerbate the situation of inflation in the economy. Also, the government should endeavour to recover loans given to States and Union Territories and use them productively.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Chennai

Published on June 9, 2026