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Amid trade war with Canada, Donald Trump again highlights ‘very high tariffs’ by India
President Trump has announced reciprocal tariffs on countries imposing high tariffs on US goods, effective April 2.
US President Donald Trump has once again taken aim at India's high tariffs, declaring that reciprocal tariffs on nations imposing levies on American goods will take effect on April 2.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday while signing executive orders, Trump described India as a “very high tariff nation” and reiterated his administration’s stance on imposing equivalent tariffs on countries that impose heavy duties on American exports.
“And the big one will be on April 2, when reciprocal tariffs, so if India or China, or any of the countries that really… India is a very high tariff nation,” Trump stated.
Indian officials are hopeful of reaching a resolution that could help India escape the tariffs and eventually culminate in a trade deal by this fall. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is in Washington for trade talks with his US counterpart Howard Lutnick.
This is the second time in as many days that Trump has remarked about India’s tariffs.
In his address to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday, the first of his second term in the White House, Trump criticized the high tariffs charged by India and other countries and termed them as “very unfair”.
Trump's reciprocal tariffs
Addressing lawmakers from the US Capitol, Trump had announced that reciprocal tariffs will kick in next month.
“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," Trump had said.
In his speech on Thursday, Trump also targeted Canada, calling out its high tariffs on American milk products and lumber. “I’ll tell you what’s a high tariff nation – it’s Canada. Canada charges us 250% 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,” he said.
