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Shashi Tharoor has slammed Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, urging India to retaliate with equal tariffs on American exports.
A file photo of Shashi Tharoor (PTI)
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has strongly criticised US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goodssaying that no country can threaten India like that.
“It will definitely have an impact because we have a trade of 90 billion dollars with them, and if everything becomes 50 per cent more expensive, buyers will also think, why should they buy Indian things?” Tharoor said.
He also urged the Indian government to respond firmly by imposing tariffs on American goods.
“If they do this, we should also impose a 50 per cent tariff on American exports,” he said.
“It is not that any country can threaten us like this,” he added.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump signed an executive order, imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports for continuing to buy Russian crude oil.
The order effectively raised the total tariff to 50 per cent.
Hours later, Tharoor, on Wednesday, had said Trump’s move will make “our goods unaffordable to a lot of people in America.”
He also pointed out that while China imports various materials, including more Russian oil than India, the country has received a “90-day break” from the US tariffs.
“Uranium, Palladium, there are various things they (US) are importing from Russia. There is, unfortunately, a certain double standard involved. They have given the Chinese a 90-day break, but the Chinese are importing far more Russian oil than we are, Tharoor said.
“So, clearly, this has not been a particularly friendly gesture from a country we thought was well disposed towards us, an administration that we thought was well disposed,” he told reporters.
Suggesting that tariffs also might signal how the friendly relations between India and the US have been affected, the Congress leader mentioned the possibility of “pressures within India” for imposing reciprocal tariffs on American exports to India.
“Very clearly, we have to act accordingly, and we will have to learn our lessons from this experience. I think there is certainly a likelihood that there will be some pressure within India now to impose comparable reciprocal tariffs on American exports to India. So I think we’re going to have to really start looking at other trading partners much more in these circumstances,” Tharoor mentioned.
ALSO READ | Trump’s 50% Tariffs On India: What It Means For India’s Economy, Exports, And Growth
Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.
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