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After Donald Trump threatens India with tariffs, Republican lawmaker's advice to President
Far-right Republican congresswoman wants Trump to instead stop issuing H1-B work visas to Indians, who she says are “replacing American jobs”.
Controversial US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has reacted with a drastic suggestion to President Donald Trump's latest social media post in which he threatened to hike tariffs on Indian goods and services.
The far-right Republican wants Trump to instead stop issuing H1B work visas to Indians, who she says are “replacing American jobs”.
The H1B is a visa category that allows US employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. Indian nationals account for 72% of H1B visas, data over the years shows. The Chinese come second with 12%.
Who gets H1B visa?
Highly skilled workers on these visas fuel large parts of the US economy, including its IT sector in Silicon Valley. The majority of H-1B visa holders worked in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with 65% in computer-related jobs, in 2023, the BBC report said. Their median annual salary was $118,000, about double the average in the US.
Trump's former and current inner-circle members have varied views on the H1B. Billionaire businessman Elon Musk, with whom Trump has since had a fallout, has backed the visa provision but supports an overhaul. Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon recently said H1B should be scrapped altogether, along with student visas.
Marjorie Taylor Greene on Ukraine
Marjorie Taylor Greene, once a major MAGA face, has alleged in recent times that the Republican Party “has turned its back on ‘America First’ and the workers, and just regular Americans".
In her X post that spoke about H1B visa, she also called on the Republican president to stop the funding to Ukraine in its defence against Russia.
She reiterated her belief that the Russia-Ukraine war was caused by former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden of the Democratic Party; and by what she calls “Neocon”, or neo-conservatism, an ideology which in the US political sphere stands for promotion of democracy globally.
What Trump said on tariffs on India
Her post carried a screenshot of Trump's Truth Social post in which he said he would "substantially raise" tariffs on India because of New Delhi's "massive" purchases of Russian oil.
Last week, Trump imposed a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods, plus an unspecified penalty over the nation's purchases from Russia.
Also read | 'Targeting by US unjustified': India issues strong response to Trump tariff threat
India's foreign ministry reacted by saying that US and the European Union too trade with Russia. Its statement stressed that when when traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, “the United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability”.
It added, “… the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.”
