NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump indicated on Wednesday that he anticipates India will likely reduce its tariffs on American goods.
In an interview with Breitbart News , Trump said, “Believe India is probably going to be lowering those tariffs substantially. But on April 2, we will be charging them the same tariffs they charge us.”
Earlier, Trump announced that retaliatory tariffs would kick in from April 2 against countries imposing high duties on American imports.
This comes just days after Trump claimed that India had agreed to reduce tariffs, adding, “Somebody is finally exposing them for what they’ve done.”
“India charges us massive tariffs. Massive. You can’t even sell anything in India… But they have agreed, by the way; they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody is finally exposing them for what they’ve done,” he said.
Previously, Trump had referred to India as a “tariff king” and a “big abuser” while discussing trade barriers during a White House press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the challenges of selling to India.
Trump also pointed out the nearly $100 billion trade deficit with India and announced negotiations to address the longstanding trade imbalances.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt further criticized India during a press briefing, claiming that the country imposes a 150 percent tariff on American alcohol and a 100 percent tariff on agricultural products.
“I have a handy-dandy chart here that shows not just Canada, but the tariffs across the board. If you look at Canada, since you brought it up, American cheese and butter face nearly a 300 percent tariff. You look at India, where there’s a 150 percent tariff on American alcohol. Do you think that’s helping Kentucky bourbon get exported to India? I don’t think so. There’s also a 100 percent tariff on agricultural products from India,” she said.