Trump has been hawkish toward countries he perceives to be imposing ‘high tariffs’ on US products which he says in turn become less competitive in domestic markets of that country. The latest threat of charging higher taxes was directed at India.
US President-Elect Donald Trump has issued a fresh warning to India saying if it taxes American products, the US will do the same. Trump’s words came during his interaction with reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort Since his first term, Trump has been hawkish about taxing foreign products but has not fully implemented what he has said. However, Trump’s warnings are taken seriously as markets move according to what a US president says.
“If they tax us, we tax them the same amount,” Trump told reporters.
Other than regarding India, Trump has been vocal about taxes imposed on American products by Brazil, Mexico, and China.
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“The word reciprocating is important because if somebody charges us – India, we don’t have to talk about our own – if India charges us 100 percent, do we charge them nothing for the same? You know, they sent in a bicycle And we sent them a bicycle. They charge us 100 and 200. India charges a lot,” Trump said.
The outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden has sounded upbeat regarding India-US ties. On Tuesday, the Biden administration said that it was leaving India-US relations “in a very strong place”
“We continue to be very ambitious about the US-India relationship. We’ve had very high-level engagement over the last several months with the QUAD summit in Delaware, and we are anticipating a high-level engagement in the last few weeks of the Biden administration,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
