US President Donald Trump has once again taken aim at India’s high tariffs, declaring that reciprocal tariffs on nations imposing levies on American goods will take effect on April 2.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday while signing executive orders, Trump described India as a “very high tariff nation” and reiterated his administration’s stance on imposing equivalent tariffs on countries that impose heavy duties on American exports.
“And the big one will be on April 2, when reciprocal tariffs, so if India or China, or any of the countries that really… India is a very high tariff nation,” Trump stated.
Indian officials are hopeful of reaching a resolution that could help India escape the tariffs and eventually culminate in a trade deal by this fall. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is in Washington for trade talks with his US counterpart Howard Lutnick.
This is the second time in as many days that Trump has remarked about India’s tariffs.
In his address to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday, the first of his second term in the White House, Trump criticized the high tariffs charged by India and other countries and termed them as “very unfair”.