Trump claims India agreed to cut tariffs ‘way down’ after US pressure

Washington: US President Donald Trump has announced that India has agreed to significantly reduce its tariffs, reiterating his claim that the country imposes massive trade barriers that hinder American exports.

Speaking from the Oval Office on Friday, Trump accused various nations of economically exploiting the US, including Canada, Mexico, China, the European Union, and India. “Our country, from an economic, financial, and trade standpoint, has been absolutely ripped off by almost every country in the world,” he stated.

Focusing on India, Trump said, “India charges us massive tariffs, massive. You can't even sell anything into India. It's almost restrictive. It is restrictive. We do very little business inside.” However, he asserted that India has now agreed to reduce its tariffs following his administration’s efforts to highlight these issues. “They’ve agreed, by the way, they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody’s finally exposing them for what they’ve done,” he added.

This marks the third time in a week that Trump has criticized India’s tariff policies. On Thursday, he described India as a “very high-tariff nation” and reiterated that reciprocal tariffs on countries imposing levies on American goods will take effect from April 2.

Earlier, in his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Trump called India’s high tariffs “very unfair,” placing it alongside other countries he believes have taken advantage of US trade policies. Announcing the upcoming reciprocal tariffs, he emphasized the need for a level playing field in global trade.

Trump has previously referred to India as a “tariff king” and a “big abuser” in international trade.

Last month, during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House, Trump acknowledged India's strong stance on tariffs. “I don’t blame them, necessarily, but it’s a different way of doing business. It’s very hard to sell into India because they have trade barriers, very strong tariffs,” he remarked.

With PTI inputs