Trump again hits out at India on ‘unacceptable’ high tariffs

New Delhi: Ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G-20 summit at Osaka, Japan, US President Donald Trump hit out at India again over the issue of trade tariffs, saying that India has just recently increased the tariffs on American products even further, and that for years it had imposed “high tariffs against the United States”, adding it was “unacceptable” and “must be withdrawn”. He also made it clear he would raise the issue with Mr Modi. This comes just a day after US secretary of state Michael R. Pompeo had raised the issue of tariffs and greater market access to American goods with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi.

In a tweet, the US President said: “I look forward to speaking with Prime Minister Modi about the fact that India for years, having put very high tariffs against the United States, just recently increased the tariffs even further. This is unacceptable and the tariffs must be withdrawn!”

Just a few days ago, India had decided to retaliate against the US by raising tariffs on 29 American products. India had reportedly decided to take the retaliatory measures on trade against the US after it decided to hike customs duties on some steel and aluminium products from India. The US has been accusing India of being a high tariff economy, something which sources in New Delhi have dismissed as a “misconception”. It may be recalled that in February last year, President Trump had mocked PM Modi on the issue of lowering of duties on Harley Davidson motorcycles. President Trump had then been quoted as saying: “When they (Harley-Davidson) send a motorcycle to India, as an example, they have to pay 100 per cent tax — 100 per cent. Now, the Prime Minister (Modi), who I think is a fantastic man, called me the other day and said we are lowering it to 50 per cent. I said okay, but so far we’re getting nothing. So we get nothing. He gets 50 (per cent), and they think we’re doing — like they’re doing us a favour. That’s not a favour.”

On Wednesday, Mr Pompeo had said in New Delhi: “Great friends (India and US) are bound to have disagreements. The US ... (wants to see) greater market access and the removal of trade barriers in our economic relationship. Today I address these differences in the spirit of friendship and I think the two of us will be able to see a good outcome for each of our two countries. We’ll keep working to address any economic disputes that in any significant trade relationship inevitably arise. We have to get this piece right, the economic piece right.”

On the other hand, Mr Jaishankar had urged the US to adopt a “constructive and pragmatic view”. He added: “On trade and investment, the US is today our largest trading partner ...  on some outstanding issues, particularly relating to trade, my urging was that we take a constructive and pragmatic view of that. The real test of that is our ability to address that effectively.”