'India very high tariff nation': Trump as he warns of reciprocal tariffs

“India is a very high tariff nation,” said US President Donald Trump while signing executive orders at the Oval Office on Thursday (local time). Trump reiterated that reciprocal tariffs on nations that impose duties on US goods will come into effect from April 2.

This is the second time that Trump spoke about India’s trade tariffs. Previously, he referred to India as a “tariff king”. During his first address to the US Congress earlier this week, he also cited instances of tariff disparities with nations like India, and China, stating, “India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100 per cent. China's average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them.” Criticising India for its high tariffs, he described them as “unfair”.

While signing executive orders at the Oval Office, Trump said, currently the tariffs are ‘temporary and small ones’, further mentioning that the predominant tariffs will be reciprocal and will come into effect on April 2.

Trump’s stance on reciprocal tariffs

Explaining what a high tariff nation is, he said, “I’ll tell you what’s a high tariff nation – it’s Canada. Canada charges us 250 per cent for our milk product and other products, and a tremendous tariff with lumber and things as such. And yet we don't need their lumber. We have more lumber than they do. We don’t need Canada’s lumber.”

According to media reports, Trump justified the reciprocal tariffs by stating, “because we've been ripped off by every country in the world, and now whatever they charge us, they charge us 150-200 per cent (and) we charge them nothing. So whatever they charge us, we’re going to charge them, and there'll be no getting out of it. So we look forward to April 2. I’ve been looking forward to that date for a long time. And that'll be something very big.”

Trump-Modi meet at White House

During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House last month, Trump claimed that the US trade deficit with India stands at nearly $100 billion. He further said that both leaders agreed to initiate negotiations to resolve long-standing trade disparities, adding, “These issues should have been addressed over the last four years, but they weren’t. Our goal is to sign an agreement.” In a joint press conference with PM Modi, he stated that India has been very strong on tariffs.