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'India must retaliate': Shashi Tharoor says ‘hidden message’ in US tariffs, cites China's oil purchases
US used the word ‘reciprocal’, says Congress MP: “India does not have a policy of threats, so we should wait for three weeks, and retaliate if nothing changes”
Congress MP and former global diplomat Shashi Tharoor has said there seems to be hidden message in how US President Donald Trump has imposed massive tariffs on India as penalty for its purchases from Russia, but given China more leeway.
“China is purchasing almost double," he said on oil that India is buying from Russia, “and they have been given 90 days while India has been given just three weeks” before additional tariffs kick in. The already-announced 25% kicked in on Thursday; it is set to go up to 50% later this month.
How is this reciprocal, Tharoor asks about tariff rates
“We should impose the same rate if nothing changes in the next three weeks,” the former union minister said, speaking in Hindi with reporters outside Parliament.
“They (US) only used the word ‘reciprocal’. India does not have a policy of threats, so we should wait for three weeks, and then retaliate if nothing changes,” he said. He pointed out that India's tariffs or duties on US imports is 17% on an average, hence the rates imposed by Trump do not appear merely reciprocal.
Also read | 'Can't even blame Congress': Mallikarjun Kharge jibes at Modi on Trump tariffs, ‘policy disaster'
“There seems to some other hidden message from Washington. The government should respond after carefully understanding the situation,” he said.
Cites Nikki Haley, explains potential loss
He urged Indian-origin Americans to urge their government to be fair, and cited former governor Nikki Haley as an example. Haley recently told Trump to prioritise the relationship with India over China.
Tharoor acknowledged that there will be significant impact of the tariffs on Indian goods and services exported to the US.
“We have trade of about $90 billion. If Indian goods get costlier by 50 per cent, then people in the US will also think before purchasing them. If our competitors, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, sell products at a lower cost, it will have an impact,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held PM Narendra Modi and his “disastrously dithering” diplomacy directly responsible for the situation.
Modi, meanwhile, said he would not let farmers' interests be compromised, though he did not name anyone or mention the US tariffs overtly.
