US Reciprocal Tariffs: Describing India as “very, very tough,” US President Donald Trump announced a 26 per cent “discounted reciprocal tariff” on it, half of the 52 per cent levies imposed by New Delhi on American goods.
Trump, who announced reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose levies on American goods, said on Wednesday that April 2, 2025, which he called “Liberation Day,” will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn and the day America’s destiny was reclaimed.
While making remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House, the US President said, “This is Liberation Day, a day we’ve been waiting for a long time. 2nd April 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day we began to make America wealthy again, going to make it wealthy, good, and wealthy”.
In his nearly hour-long remarks on Wednesday late afternoon in the Rose Garden, Trump listed various countries from around the world and the tariffs they charge on US products, saying, “For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike. American steelworkers, auto workers, farmers, and skilled craftsmen… They really suffered gravely. They watched in anguish as foreign leaders stole our jobs. Foreign cheaters ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers tore apart our once-beautiful American dream.”
Joined by factory and automotive workers, as well as members of his Cabinet in the audience, Trump signed the “historic Executive Order” instituting closely watched reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world. “Reciprocal. That means they do it to us and we do it to them. Very simple. Can’t get any simpler than that,” Trump said to applause from those gathered for the event.
“Let me offer just a few examples of the vicious attacks our workers have faced for so many years. The United States charges other countries only a 2.4 per cent tariff on motorcycles. Meanwhile, Thailand and others charge much higher rates, like 60 per cent. India charges 70 per cent, Vietnam charges 75 per cent, and others are even higher than that.
“Likewise, until today, the United States has for decades charged a 2.5 per cent tariff. Think of that—2.5 – 2.5 per cent on foreign-made automobiles. The European Union charges us more than 10 per cent tariffs…. India charges 70 per cent and perhaps worst of all are the non-monetary restrictions imposed by South Korea, Japan, and very many other nations,” he said.
As he announced the tariffs, Trump held up a chart that showed the tariffs that countries such as India, China, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan levy on US products and the reciprocal levies these countries will now have to pay.
The chart showed that India charged 52 percent tariffs on the US, “including currency manipulation and trade barriers,” and that America would now charge India “discounted reciprocal tariffs” of 26 percent.
“India is very, very tough. Very, very tough. The Prime Minister just left. He’s a great friend of mine, but I said, ‘You’re a friend of mine, but you’re not treating us right.’ They charge us 52 per cent. You have to understand, we charged them almost nothing for years and years and decades, and it was only seven years ago when I came in that we started with China and we took in hundreds of billions of dollars from China in tariffs,” Trump said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington, DC, in February, less than a month after Trump took the oath of office and began his second term in the White House as President.
In the past, he has called India the “tariff king” and a “big abuser.” During a joint press conference with Modi in the White House on 13th February, Trump had said that India has “been very strong on tariffs,” and “I don’t blame them, necessarily, but it’s a different way of doing business. It’s very hard to sell into India because they have trade barriers and very strong tariffs.”
Trump had said that the US trade deficit with India is almost USD 100 billion, and Modi and he agreed that “we’ll begin negotiations to address the long-running disparities that should have been taken care of over the last four years—but they didn’t do that—in the US-India trading relationship, with the goal of signing an agreement. And we want—really, we want a certain level playing field, which we really think we’re entitled to, and he does also, in fairness, so we’re going to work on that very hard.”
(With PTI Inputs)
