‘PM Modi great friend of mine’: US President Donald Trump announces 26 percent ‘discounted’ reciprocal tariff on India

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump announced a 26 per cent “discounted reciprocal tariff” on India, half of of the 52 p.c levies imposed by India on American items, as he described India as “very, very subtle.”

“This is Liberation Day, a day we’ve been expecting a actually long time. 2nd April 2025 will frequently be remembered because the day American industry changed into reborn, the day The United States’s destiny changed into reclaimed, and the day we began to invent The United States well to place but another time, going to invent it well to place, good, and well to place,” Trump acknowledged on Wednesday in remarks from the Rose Garden on the White Home as he announced the closely watched reciprocal tariffs on international locations that impose levies on American items.

In his with regards to hour-long remarks on a frigid Wednesday behind afternoon within the Rose Garden, Trump listed rather about a international locations from round the enviornment and the tariffs they charge on US products, announcing, “For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by countries shut to and much, both friend and foe alike. American steelworkers, auto workers, farmers, and expert craftsmen… They actually suffered gravely. They watched in danger as international leaders stole our jobs. Foreign cheaters ransacked our factories, and international scavengers tore apart our once-gorgeous American dream.”

Joined by manufacturing facility and automobile workers, moreover to members of his Cabinet within the viewers, Trump signed the “ancient Government Expose” instituting reciprocal tariffs on international locations all the contrivance by contrivance of the enviornment.

“Reciprocal. Which methodology they discontinue it to us and we discontinue it to them. Very easy. Can’t salvage any more radiant than that,” Trump acknowledged to applause from these gathered for the event.

“Let me provide upright about a examples of the vicious attacks our workers occupy faced for therefore decades. The US expenses varied international locations best a 2.4 per cent tariff on motorcycles. Meanwhile, Thailand and others charge worthy higher rates, adore 60 per cent. India expenses 70 per cent, Vietnam expenses 75 per cent, and others are even higher than that.

“Likewise, until nowadays, the United States has for decades charged a 2.5 per cent tariff. Maintain that – 2.5 per cent on international-made vehicles. The European Union expenses us more than 10 per cent tariffs…. India expenses 70 per cent and probably worst of all are the non-monetary restrictions imposed by South Korea, Japan, and actually many plenty of countries,” he acknowledged.

As he announced the tariffs, Trump held up a chart that confirmed the tariffs that international locations equivalent to India, China, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan levy on US products, and the reciprocal levies these international locations will now occupy to pay.

On India, the chart confirmed that the country charged 52 per cent tariffs on the US, “including currency manipulation and commerce boundaries”, and The United States would now charge India “discounted reciprocal tariffs” of 26 per cent.

“India, very, very subtle. Very, very subtle. The Prime Minister upright left. He’s an ideal friend of mine, nonetheless I acknowledged, ‘You’re a friend of mine, nonetheless you’re no longer treating us lawful.’ They charge us 52 per cent. You can need got to heed, we charge them almost nothing, for years and years and a protracted time, and it changed into best seven years ago, when I got here in, we began with China and we took in hundreds of billions of bucks from China in tariffs,” Trump acknowledged.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Washington DC in February, much less than a month after Trump took the oath of position of job and started his 2d length of time within the White Home as President.

Previously, Trump has known as India the “tariff king” and a “big abuser”. For the length of a joint press convention with Modi within the White Home on thirteenth February, Trump had acknowledged that India has “been very stable on tariffs,” and “I don’t blame them, basically, nonetheless it’s a varied contrivance of doing industry. It’s very laborious to sell into India because they occupy commerce boundaries, very stable tariffs.”

Trump had acknowledged that the US commerce deficit with India is nearly USD 100 billion, and Modi and he agreed that “we’ll originate up negotiations to handle the long-running disparities that should had been regarded after over the closing four years – nonetheless they didn’t discontinue that – within the US-India shopping and selling relationship, with the aim of signing an settlement. And we want – actually, we need a determined stage playing topic, which we actually enjoy we’re entitled to, and he does also, in equity, so we’re going to work on that very laborious.”

In announcing the tariffs, Trump acknowledged The United States is being “very kind” to the international locations and should be charging them roughly half of of the levies they impose on US items.

“For countries that handle us badly, we can calculate the combined rate of all their tariffs, non-monetary boundaries, and varied forms of cheating. And because we're being very kind, we’re a sort of us, very kind… we can charge them roughly half of of what they're and had been charging us. So the tariffs may no longer be fully reciprocal. I will occupy carried out that, sure, nonetheless it can presumably had been subtle for a sort of countries who didn’t are attempting to discontinue that.”

“It’s going to be Liberation Day in The United States, and it’s going to be a day that hopefully you’re going to survey serve in years but to attain serve and dispute, ‘, he changed into lawful. This has changed into out to be one amongst the very best days within the ancient past of our country,’” Trump acknowledged as he concluded his remarks.

(With PTI Inputs)