New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump announced a 26 per cent “discounted reciprocal tariff” on India, half of the 52 per cent levies imposed by India on American goods, as he described India as “very, very tough.”
“This is Liberation Day, a day we’ve been waiting for a long time. 2nd April 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day we began to make America wealthy again, going to make it wealthy, good, and wealthy,” Trump said on Wednesday in remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House as he announced the closely watched reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose levies on American goods.
In his nearly hour-long remarks on a cold Wednesday late afternoon in the Rose Garden, Trump listed various countries from around the world and the tariffs they charge on US products, saying, “For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike. American steelworkers, auto workers, farmers, and skilled craftsmen… They suffered gravely. They watched in anguish as foreign leaders stole our jobs. Foreign cheaters ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers tore apart our once-beautiful American dream.”
In a move to protect the US auto industry, the administration will impose a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles effective at midnight ET.
Trump justified this measure by citing “horrendous imbalances” in the trade sector that he claims have weakened the country’s “industrial base” and posed national security risks.
