US President Donald Trump attacked India’s tariff system

Washington, DC: On Thursday (local time), US President Donald Trump criticized India’s tariff policy, claiming that it is almost hard to sell anything to India due to the “high tariffs.” Trump emphasized the tariffs his government would shortly implement in a nationally broadcast speech. Trump did, however, also disclose that India had consented to drastically reduce its tariffs, claiming that this is because “somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done.”

“India charges us massive tariffs,” Trump said while speaking from the White House. enormous. In India, you can’t even sell anything. They have consented, by the way, and now that someone is finally calling them out on their actions, they want to drastically reduce their rates. The US is getting ready to apply reciprocal tariffs on nations that place heavy taxes on American exports.

With the reciprocal tariffs scheduled to go into force on April 2, US trade policy will undergo a dramatic change. Trump has made it clear that the US would no longer put up with other countries, especially those with high tariff regimes like India, taking advantage of it.

He also pledged to implement reciprocal measures after accusing many nations, notably the European Union and Canada, of exploiting the US for years by placing excessive taxes on American products.

Trump has explicitly criticized Canada for their unjust 250% tax on U.S. milk goods. Additionally, he has pledged to tax foreign nations just as much as the US does, without exception.

“Canada has been taking advantage of us for years by imposing tariffs on dairy and timber goods. Two hundred and fifty percent. That is never discussed. Our farmers are being exploited by the two hundred and fifty percent tariff. Therefore, it will no longer occur. Unless they remove it, we’re going to be hit with the same tariff,” Trump said.
Additionally, Trump attacked the European Union, claiming that it was established to exploit the United States. “This nation has been horribly abused by the EU. He said, “I mean, the EU was created to exploit the United States.”

Trump attacked India’s import taxes earlier Tuesday when he addressed a joint session of Congress. In particular, Trump criticized India’s vehicle import taxes, claiming that “India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100 per cent.”

The reciprocal tax will take effect on April 2, Trump said while speaking to a joint session of the US Congress. For decades, almost every nation on the planet has taken advantage of the United States, he said, and he swore to “let that happen any longer.”

“You will pay a tariff under the Trump administration, and in some cases, a fairly large one,” Trump said. It’s time for us to start utilizing tariffs against the nations that have been using them against us for decades. Our tariffs are much higher than those of the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico, Canada, and many other countries. It’s really unjust. India imposes vehicle tariffs on us that are more than 100%.

It is anticipated that the implementation of reciprocal tariffs would have a significant impact on international commerce. Other nations will have to reevaluate their own tariff policy as the US looks to rebalance its trade ties.

Notably, Trump said in February that he would impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and an extra 10% on items from China.

Amid US President Donald Trump’s intentions to impose reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners, including India, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday voiced confidence over trade relations between the US and India, highlighting the need to open up India’s agricultural commerce.

Speaking remotely at the India Today Conclave, Lutnick said that both parties would need to understand and work together to create a win-win solution.

He said that India’s agricultural commerce cannot just be shut off and proposed that it engage more intelligently with the United States, its most “important trading partner,” across the table.

The US Commerce Secretary said at the India Today Conclave that “the Indian market for agriculture has to open up.” The “good thing” about the Indian government, he said, is that “we understand our market” and “it truly understands” its.

The Secretary was asked whether Prime Minister Modi would be politically killed if he ever pursued some of the policies that the United States has been advocating, such as reducing the import taxes on certain agricultural items. How is the sensitivity seen in America?

“The good news is that we understand our market and your administration really knows yours. And attempting to locate that location is crucial. Therefore, the Indian agricultural market must open up,” he said.

“It cannot just remain closed. Now, the method and scale by which you do that—perhaps you set restrictions or quotas. When your most significant trade partner is on the opposite side of the table, you may be more astute,” he said.

According to Lutnick, India should open up its agricultural market by implementing more sensible measures like quotas or restrictions. In order to create a reasonable agreement, he underlined the need for putting everything on the table and engaging in careful negotiation.

The Secretary said that a macro-level approach is the best way to proceed with the bilateral trade deal, which is anticipated to be signed by the autumn of 2025.

The United States is eager to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal with India that considers the whole trading relationship rather than specific goods.

President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met and agreed to increase trade and investment to boost their countries’ strength, their populations’ prosperity, their economies’ inventiveness, and their supply networks’ resilience.

In order to foster development that guarantees equity, national security, and job creation, they decided to strengthen the commercial connection between the US and India. In order to achieve this, the leaders established the ambitious “Mission 500” objective for bilateral commerce, which calls for more than doubling overall bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030.

This week, Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of commerce, visited the United States. This comes after Trump and Modi agreed to negotiate the first phase of a multi-sector, mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the autumn of 2025. To move these talks forward, the two presidents had agreed to appoint senior representatives.