US investment may be delayed due to tariff uncertainty: Tata Technologies

Warren Harris, CEO & MD of Tata Technologies, states that uncertainties regarding tariff policy under President Donald Trump’s new administration are likely to postpone investment decisions in the US.

The firm, a worldwide provider of product engineering and digital services with a substantial presence in the US, is optimistic that in the next month or two, there will be clarity regarding policy, Harris informed  from Detroit.

“We are very bullish, medium to long term in North America. The lack of clarity on things like tariffs are not helpful. They’re not helpful to our customers, and because they’re not helpful to our customers, investment decisions are likely to be delayed,” he said.

Harris was responding to a query on the impact of Trump’s tariff war against various countries.

He further said,”But what we are clear about is that the administration is only less than two months old, and so I think in the next month or two, we are going to see clarity in terms of policy. Whether we like tariffs or not, the most important thing is clarity, and once our customers have clarity, then they can make the appropriate adjustments.” 

When asked if Tata Technologies prepared for any eventuality, Harris said,”Of course, we’re always monitoring the market conditions and the last 12 months have taught us that we have to be agile and we have to be flexible.” Asserting Tata Technologies is “not an organisation that advocates things like tariffs”, he said,

“We’re a global company, and so anything that supports free trade is something that we are very much aligned to.” 

He, however, added,”We have learnt to deal with different market conditions in different parts of the world. Europe is very different than North America. What’s happening in China is very different than India.” So as an organisation, he said,

“We have committed ourselves to being agile and flexible and reacting to the circumstances in which we operate.” He pointed out that players in the automotive industry specifically have to invest not just in the move towards electrification and new vehicles, but on software as well.

“Software is such an important part of what will define the competitive position of our industries that we are likely to see an exponential movement of ER&D (engineering research and development) dollars into that space,” Harris said.

Stating that Tata Technologies is already taking full advantage of that, he said,”One of the reasons that we are separating out embedded and software is because we believe there is such a bow wave of opportunity that will define our industry in the next five to 10 years.” The company had recently announced key leadership changes as part of its strategy to closely support clients across automotive, industrial heavy machinery, and aerospace sectors.