US Tariff Policy Shift: India Among Countries Facing New Duties from April 2

Trump addresses joint session of Congress: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that the United States will impose reciprocal tariffs on India and other countries from April 2, criticising them for levying high tariffs on American goods. Calling it "very unfair", the president said he wants to impose the same tariff on imports from foreign countries as those nations impose on us exports. Addressing a joint session of the US Congress, President Trump said, "Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it is our turn to start using them against those countries. On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India and countless other nations charge us significantly higher tariffs than we charge them, which is very unfair. India charges us tariffs of 100 per cent, the system has never been fair to the US." "On April 2, reciprocal tariffs will come into effect, and whatever tariffs other countries impose on us, we will impose the same on them. If they use non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, we will apply non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market," he added. Trump says tariffs make Americans rich Trump said that "tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it will happen rather quickly." He asserted that the reciprocal measures would cause "little disturbance". "There will be a little disturbance, but we are okay with that. It won’t be much." In February, President Trump has said that his administration will “soon” impose reciprocal tariffs on countries such as India and China, reiterating what he had said during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US capital last month. Trump has made it clear to Prime Minister Modi that India will not be spared from Washington's reciprocal tariffs and emphasised that 'nobody can argue with me' on tariff structure. "China's average tariff on our products is twice... and South Korea's average tariff is four times higher. Think of that, four times higher. And we give so much help militarily and in so many other ways to South Korea. But that's what happens. This is happening by friend and foe. This system is not fair to the United States. It never was," he said. (With agencies input)