For charging high tariffs US President-elect Donald Trump accused India and warned about the reciprocal process.
While speaking to reporters, Trump reiterated his intent to impose reciprocal tariffs in response to New Delhi’s higher tariffs on specific American imports.
He remarked that while answering a question about a trade agreement with China, Trump cited India and Brazil as among the countries that levied high tariffs on specific US products.
Trump mentioned that “Reciprocal. If they tax us, we tax them the same amount. They tax us. We tax them. And they tax us. Almost in all cases, they’re taxing us, and we haven’t been taxing them.”
Trump outlined that, “The word reciprocal is important because if somebody charges us, India, we don’t have to talk about our own, if India charges us 100 per cent, do we charge them nothing for the same? You know, they send in a bicycle and we send them a bicycle. They charge us 100 and 200.”
“India charges a lot. Brazil charges a lot. If they want to charge us, that’s fine, but we’re going to charge them the same thing,” Trump mentioned at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago.
Read Also: GST: Donald Trump Trade Policies May Affect US Businesses in India
A Reciprocal Tariff could be comprehended as a policy in which countries raise tariffs to the exact level as their trading partners on identical goods.
On the remarks of Trump, his Commerce Secretary pick Howard Lutnick mentioned that reciprocity will be the major focus in the forthcoming administration. He said, “How you treat us is how you should expect to be treated.”
Before that Trump had warned BRICS nations to levy 100% taxes on their exports if they back and currency other than the US Dollar.
“We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar,” Trump wrote. “They can go find another ‘sucker.”
Following the same External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar cited that India has “no interest” in weakening the US dollar. EAM reacting to Trump’s threat said.
“We had a good relationship, a very solid relationship with the first Trump administration, yes there were some issues mostly trade-related issues, but there were a whole lot of issues on which Trump was very international.”
Recommend: How DTAA Can Give Benefit to NRI on Double Taxation in India
BRICS is a group of 9 countries that comprises Brazil, Iran, South Africa, Russia, Egypt, Ethiopia, China, India, and the United Arab Emirates who have actively advocated for the rise in commerce in local currencies, specifically after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.
