After imposing tarriffs against Mexico, Canada, and China, US President-elect Donald Trump has now warned India against reciprocal tax if American products continue to attract tariffs from New Delhi. Trump said that India charges 'a lot' of tariffs, reiterating his intention to impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation for what New Delhi will impose on the import of certain American products.


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Trump made these remarks on Tuesday and also said that India and Brazil were among countries that impose high tariffs on certain US products. “Reciprocal. If they tax us, we tax them the same amount. They tax us. We tax them. And they tax us. Almost in all cases, they're taxing us, and we haven't been taxing them,” Trump told reporters on Monday.


On Tuesday, Trump commented that India and Brazil are among the countries imposing high tariffs on certain U.S. products. Trump said India and Brazil were among countries that impose high tariffs on certain US products.


“The word reciprocal is important because if somebody charges us — India, we don't have to talk about our own — if India charges us 100 per cent, do we charge them nothing for the same?...You know, they send in a bicycle and we send them a bicycle. They charge us 100 and 200. India charges a lot. Brazil charges a lot. If they want to charge us, that's fine, but we're going to charge them the same thing,” Trump said.


In 2019, Trump repeatedly referred to India as a "tariff king," accusing the country of imposing "tremendously high" tariffs on American products. He specifically criticized India's steep tariffs on American paper products and the iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles.


As of 2023-24, the United States remains India's largest trading partner. During the last fiscal year, India's exports to the U.S. totalled USD 77.51 billion, while imports from the U.S. amounted to USD 42.2 billion.


During April-October this fiscal, the country's exports to America rose by 6.31 per cent to USD 47.24 billion, while imports grew by 2.46 per cent to USD 26 billion. Between FY 2020 and FY 2024, India's merchandise exports to America rose by 46 per cent from USD 53.1 billion to USD 77.5 billion. Imports from the US also grew to USD 42.2 billion last fiscal from USD 35.8 billion in 2019-20.


On the other hand, trade in services between the two nations expanded 30.3 per cent from USD 54.1 billion in 2018 to an estimated USD 70.5 billion in 2024. India is also a key destination for American businesses such as professional, scientific, and technical services, manufacturing, and IT. Washington is the third largest investor. India received USD 66.7 billion of FDI inflow between April 2000 and June 2024.