With less than 100 hours left for the 2024 US presidential election, the world's eyes are on a race that will determine who will be the so-called "leader of the free world".

Contesting this time for the four-year position are former president Donald Trump from the conservative Republican party and incumbent Vice-President and Democratic party candidate Kamala Harris.

With early and mail-in voting already underway in the US, here is a look at what could happen in the US and their ripple effects in India.

The previous Trump presidency

Businessman-turned-politician Trump won the 2016 US presidential election and held the post from 2017 to 2021. During this time, India and the US appeared to display quite a bit of bonhomie. 

For example, Trump hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Texas in 2019, where they together appeared at a rally called "Howdy Modi", attended by more than 50,000 people. In response, Modi hosted Trump in his home state of Gujarat in 2020, where they attended a rally called "Namaste Trump". 

More than 1 lakh people were reportedly present at the event, where Modi called for the re-election of Trump as the US president. Trump lost the 2020 election, but the two rallies appeared to showcase strong ties between the US and India.

What lies ahead?

However, things are very different from what they were during Trump's first tenure as president.

For example, he has grown way more hawkish than he was, pushing the ultra-national MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement to the point where right-wing extremists, including neo-Nazis and white supremacists, have joined it.

As a result, his and his followers' attitude towards immigrants - including Indians - appear to be at an all-time high when it comes to hostilities. And yes, that is counting the likes of Vivek Ramaswamy within the ranks of the Republican party, which is also referred to as the Grand Old Party (GOP).

All this may come to a head if Trump is elected president again. After all, he has promised to be a dictator on the first day of his second term, while also assuring his voter base that there would be no more polls after the one in 2024. 

Meanwhile, Trump also appears poised to use Project 2025 - a self-proclaimed "presidential transition" roadmap published by the conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation. It has courted controversy for various reasons, including the plans it outlines for immigrants. 

On the other hand, Trump in late October also touted an obscure 1798 law as part of his plan to "the largest deportation programme in American history" immediately after taking office.

Trump on tariffs

Then there is the question of tariffs: Trump has, at various points in his 2024 presidential campaign, batted for more tariffs on imported goods. In October, he claimed that India charges the highest tariffs on imported goods. 

His hint at "reciprocity" in the address on October 10 led to some furrowed eyebrows in India, especially considering what it could do to trade ties.

A tariff is basically a tax paid on goods coming into a country. Usually, the customers - in this case, the masses consuming these goods or products - end up paying the tariffs.

Therefore, there is a belief in the conservative circles that such tariffs on foreign goods might reduce their import and in turn get people to use more locally-produced items, thereby boosting the economy.

However, imposing tariffs on goods that power local industries could have the opposite effect.