Washington/New Delhi: In another attack on high Indian tariffs, US President Donald Trump said that “India charges US auto tariffs higher than 100 percent", which he termed as “not fair”, and announced that reciprocal tariffs would kick in from April 2.
President Trump, who had raised the issue of high Indian tariffs during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House last month and even during their phone call after his swearing-in, clubbed India along with China, and the European Union as among countries that charge “tremendously higher tariffs” on US products.
In his address to the joint US Congress, Trump said:
“If you don't make your product in America; however, under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff, and in some cases, a rather large one.
“Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it's our turn to start using them against those other countries. On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada, have you heard of them? And countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them.
“It's very unfair. India charges US auto tariffs higher than 100%.”
He said that China's average tariff on US products “is twice what we charge them. And South Korea's average tariff is four times higher. Think of that four times higher.”
“But that's what happens. This is happening by friend and foe. This system is not fair to the United States and never was.”
He announced the slapping of reciprocal tariffs from April 2.
“And so on April 2nd, I wanted to make an April 1st, but I didn’t want to be accused of April Fool’s Day. That’s what one day would cost us, a lot of money, but we’re going to do it in April. I’m a very superstitious person. April 2nd reciprocal tariffs kick in and whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them. That’s reciprocal back and forth. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them.”
He continued:
“If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we will do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market. It’s a lot of that too. They don’t even allow us in that market. We will take in trillions and trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before.
“I did it with China and I did it with others and the Biden administration couldn’t do anything about it because there was so much money. They couldn’t do anything about it. We’ve been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on Earth, and we will not let that happen any longer.”
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced its high 25 percent tariffs on neighbouring countries and on Canada and Mexico. The US also doubled tariffs on Chinese goods from 10 percent to 20 percent on Tuesday, citing lack of action from China on its alleged role in fentanyl production.
India has a growing trade surplus with the US. Over the last decade, India’s goods trade surplus with the US has doubled to $35 billion, driven by strong exports in electronics, pharma, and textiles, all of which could now be vulnerable to reciprocal tariff measures.
India’s imports from the US include petroleum crude, pearls, precious stones, electrical machinery, aircraft parts, and military equipment.
Earlier, Trump had threatened to impose 100 per cent tariffs on BRICS nations, including India, if they undermine the US dollar. He has warned that any attempt by BRICS nations to create a rival currency would lead to such tariffs.
