‘We are being reciprocal with India’: US President Trump on tariffs

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump reiterated his stance on tariff reciprocity in the joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, emphasizing that the United States will match tariffs imposed by other countries, including India, to ensure fair trade.

“We are, right now, a reciprocal nation. We are going to, if it’s India or if it’s somebody else with low tariffs, we’re going to have the same. We’re going to have whatever India charges, we’re charging them. Whatever another country charges, we’re charging them”, Trump stated.

However, the US President highlighted that trade challenges with the European Union and China are deeper than India, citing high tariffs and unfair practices. “The European Union is very difficult for us. Very, very difficult. They tax our companies at levels that nobody has ever seen before. They take advantage of a lot of things. So we’re not happy about that”, he remarked.

President Trump on trade with India: “India’s been, to us, just about the highest tariff nation anywhere in the world… it’s very hard to sell into India… We’re going to have the same. Whatever India is charging us, we’re charging them.” pic.twitter.com/20ZEEJKeEu

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 13, 2025

On China, Trump asserted that his administration had taken a tougher stance than previous US governments. Trump stated, “China, of course, is terrible. And we’ve never taken in 10 cents until I was president. We’ve taken in hundreds of billions of dollars from China since I’ve been president in first term and now. We have to do that just as a mechanism of fairness. And that’s what I’ve done”.

Regarding India, Trump noted that discussions during his first term failed to yield concessions on tariff reductions. As a result, the US has decided to adopt a direct reciprocal approach.

“And so we are being reciprocal with India. Whatever India charges, we charge them. So, frankly, it no longer matters to us that much, what they charge. I had discussions with India in the first term about the fact that their tariffs were very high, and I was unable to get a concession,” he said.

“So we’re just going to do it the easy way, and we’re just going to say, whatever you charge, we charge. And I think that’s fair for the people of the United States”, he said. (ANI)