US President Donald Trump took aim at India's import duties while addressing a joint session of Congress, announcing that the United States would impose reciprocal tariffs on nations that levy higher tariffs on American goods. The move, he declared, would take effect from 2 April.
In a speech that spotlighted his administration's commitment to what he termed "fair trade," Trump criticised tariffs imposed by several countries, including India, the European Union, China, Brazil, and Mexico. He contended that the US had been "ripped off for decades by nearly every country on Earth" and vowed to put an end to such practices.
"Under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff and, in some cases, a rather large one. Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it is our turn to start using them against those other countries," he stated. "On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico, and Canada—have you heard of them?—and countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. It's very unfair. India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100 per cent."
Highlighting disparities in global trade policies, Trump pointed to China and South Korea as examples. "China's average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them. 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 is what happens. This is happening by friend and foe," he said.
Emphasising that the system was "not fair to the US," he reiterated his stance on reciprocal tariffs. "This system is not fair to the United States and never was. And so on April 2, I wanted to make it April 1, but I didn't want to be accused of April Fool's Day. That is not—this one day—was—cost us a lot of money. But we are going to do it in April. I am a very superstitious person. April 2, reciprocal tariffs kick in. And whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them."
He further declared that nations employing non-monetary barriers to restrict US exports would face similar obstacles. "That is reciprocal, back and forth. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them.
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If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we will do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market. There is a lot of that, too. They do not even allow us in their market. We will take in trillions and trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before. I did it with China, and I did it with others. And the Biden administration could not do anything about it because there was so much money. They could not do anything about it. We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on Earth, and we will not let that happen any longer," he said.
Trump also touted the early achievements of his administration, claiming that it had accomplished more in 43 days than previous administrations had in years.
"Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden age of America. From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years, and we are just getting started," he said.
Referring to his past addresses to Congress, he accused Democratic lawmakers of refusing to acknowledge his administration's accomplishments.
"This is my fifth such speech to Congress. And once again, I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realise there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. Nothing I can do. I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations, or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded. And these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won't do it, no matter what. Five times I have been up here. It is very sad, and it just should not be this way."
He further detailed the executive actions taken since assuming office on 20 January. "Over the past six weeks, I have signed nearly 100 executive orders and taken more than 400 executive actions—a record to restore common sense, safety, optimism and wealth all across our wonderful land. The people elected me to do the job, and I am doing it."
Speaking on domestic security, Trump reiterated his commitment to border control.
"Within hours of taking the oath of office, I declared a national emergency on our southern border. I deployed US military and border patrol to repel the invasion of our country, and what a job they have done! As a result, illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded. In comparison, under Joe Biden—the worst President in American history—there were hundreds of thousands of illegal crossings a month," he claimed.
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