New Delhi, May 7 -- The Trump administration in the US, which has been trumpeting a 'Hire American' policy for more than a year, appears to be moving to tighten H1B visa issuances. Though an official press statement is yet to be released, US Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta has confirmed that apart from a cap on the number of people coming into the US on such a work visa, its application fee will be hiked. The stated purpose is to raise funds for the expansion of an apprentice programme which trains American youth for technology sector jobs. The US move is yet to be made law and details of the plan remain sketchy. But given Trump's disposition, it's clear to IT service companies based in India that it is aimed at them (at least partly if not wholly). It would curtail the number of Indian citizens they send on work to the US and also raise their cost of entry. In that respect, the fee hike serves as a barrier, the labour market equivalent of a tariff....