Donald Trump's warning to India...'If they impose higher tariffs on us, we will impose the same on them'
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): America's newly elected President Donald Trump has warned of imposing high tariffs on Indian products. Trump says that India is imposing excessive tariffs on many American products, and if this continues, he will impose high tariffs on Indian products as well.
Trump made this comment in response to a question on a possible trade deal with China. He told reporters, "It is usually seen that if they put tariffs on us, we also put tariffs on them. In many cases, they are putting tariffs on us while we are not putting tariffs on them."
Trump said that India and Brazil are among the countries that impose very high tariffs on American products. He said as an example, if India charges us 100 percent duty, will we do nothing? They send us bicycles and we send them bicycles, but they charge us 100 and 200 percent duty. Trump also said that if they want to impose duty, we will also charge them the same duty.
Howard Lutnick, the Trump administration's nominee for Commerce Secretary, said that the Trump administration's policy would be "to repay as you do". He said, "You should expect to be treated the same way you treat us."
Bilateral trade between India and the US is set to cross $120 billion in the financial year 2024, slightly higher than India-China trade. Over the years, India has increased its export share in the US market. While India's exports to the US were 10% in 2010-11, it has now increased to 18%. India's exports to the US are mainly related to textiles, electronics and engineering goods.