US President Donald Trump on Thursday (IST) announced reciprocal tariffs on all imports from India and other nations, calling the move “kind reciprocal.” Calling India’s tariffs “very, very tough,” Trump said he was imposing 27 per cent tariffs on all imports from India — half of what India imposes on US products. 

In his address titled ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ at the White House, Trump recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the US. “He (PM Modi) is a great friend of mine. But I said, ‘You’re a friend of mine, but you’re not treating us right.’ They charge us 52 per cent but we charged them almost nothing for years and decades. And it was only seven years ago when I came in,” he said.

Overall, Trump announced universal tariffs of at least 10 per cent on practically all imports, with higher rates on countries that have the highest trade deficits with the US. He also said the US would impose a 25 per cent tariff on all foreign-made automobiles to address “horrendous imbalances” that have impacted the US industrial base.