The US President also claimed that unfair tariff structures were pushing companies to set up production outside America. However, he argued that his administration’s trade policies, including the imposition of steep reciprocal tariffs, were beginning to reverse the trend.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday sharpened his attack on India’s trade policies, accusing New Delhi of imposing some of the steepest tariffs in the world and calling the long-standing economic relationship between the two countries “one-sided.”
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said, “We get along with India very well, but for many years, it was a one-sided relationship. Only now, since I came along and because of the power that we have with us, India was charging us tremendous tariffs, about the highest in the world, and we therefore weren’t doing much business with India, but they were doing business with us because we weren’t charging them foolishly. We weren’t charging them.”
The US president claimed that India’s trade practices had cost American manufacturers heavily.
“So they would send in massive, you know, everything they made, they’d send it in, it poured into our country. Therefore, it wouldn’t be made here, you know, which is a negative. But we would not send in anything because they were charging us 100 percent tariffs,” Trump said.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON HIT BY INDIA’S DUTIES
Citing an example, Trump pointed to the struggles of Harley-Davidson, one of America’s most recognised motorcycle brands, in selling its products in India.
“Harley-Davidson couldn’t sell into India. There was a 200 percent tariff on a motorcycle. So what happens? Harley-Davidson went to India and built a motorcycle plant. And now they don’t have to pay tariffs. Same thing as us,” Trump remarked.
The president also claimed that unfair tariff structures were pushing companies to set up production outside the US. However, he argued that his administration’s trade policies, including the imposition of steep reciprocal tariffs, were beginning to reverse the trend.
