US President Donald Trump announced new import tariffs on Wednesday, April 2, outlining the rates to be imposed on countries around the world, with India facing a 26 percent tariff. He said they would go into effect at 12 midnight Eastern Standard Time.
Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “great friend,” Trump said that India charges the US 52 per cent, and “we charge them almost nothing.”
Trump’s announcement came while he addressed the Make America Wealthy Again Event in the Rose Garden at the White House.
“India …. very, very tough. The Prime Minister just left and is a great friend of mine, but you are not treating us right. They charge us 52 per cent and we charge them almost nothing…” Trump said.
“The United States charges other countries only a 2.4 tariff on motorcycles. Meanwhile, Thailand and others are charging much higher prices like 60%, India charges 70%, Vietnam charges 75% and others are even higher than that,” Trump said within five minutes of beginning his speech on what he called “Liberation Day.”
The US President further said that a 25 per cent tariff would be imposed on all foreign-made automobiles.
“Such horrendous imbalances have devastated our industrial base and put our national security at risk. I don’t blame these other countries at all for this calamity. I blame former presidents and past leaders who weren’t doing their job…Effective at midnight, we will impose a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles,” Trump said.
The import tariffs on other major countries are China (34 per cent), European Union (20 per cent), Vietnam (46 per cent), Taiwan (32 per cent), Japan (24 per cent), India (26 per cent), United Kingdom (10 per cent), Bangladesh (37 per cent), Pakistan (29 per cent), Sri Lanka (44 per cent), Israel (17 per cent).
Trump said that after decades of exploitation, the era of American taxpayers being “ripped off” was over.
“Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years, but it is not going to happen anymore.”
He went on to say, “In a few moments, I will sign a historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world. Reciprocal: That means they do it to us and we do it to them. This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history. It is our Declaration of Economic Independence. For years, hardworking American citizens were forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful, much of it at our expense. With today’s action, we are finally going to be able to make America great again, greater than ever before.”
He later went on to say the tariffs were “KInd reciprocal,” as in most cases the American tariffs were lower than those imposed by other countries, according to a board displaying the list that President Trump held up.
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