Trump says India 'kills us with tariffs', claims New Delhi offered zero tariff deal
Donald Trump claims India offered zero tariffs on US goods only due to his trade measures, calling India the “most tariffed nation” in the world
US President Donald Trump has said that India offered him zero tariffs on US goods only because he decided to impose tariffs on countries which have an adverse trade imbalance with Washington. Claiming that he understands tariffs better than anyone else, Trump also accused India of being the “most tariffed nation” in the world. The US President made the comments during a telephonic interview on The Scott Jennings Radio Show.
"India was the most highly tariffed nation in the country. And you know what? They've offered me no tariffs in India anymore. No tariffs. If I didn't have tariffs, they would never make that offer. They would never make that offer. So you have to have, you have to have tariffs,” said Trump.
‘India kills us with tariffs’
“India kills us with tariffs. Brazil kills us with tariffs. I have understood tariffs better than they did. I understood tariffs better than any human being in the world. Okay? And now with my tariffs, they were all dropping them,” he added.
Claiming that the US is going to be “economically strong”, Trump referred to the verdict of a US court that termed most of his tariffs “illegal” and said that the country was waiting for the Supreme Court’s view on the issue.
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‘Very serious financial trouble’
The US President suggested that in case the Supreme Court takes an adverse view of the tariffs, the US would face “very serious financial trouble.”
“We are going to be economically strong. We're so strong right now. But there's a poll over the country waiting for the Supreme Court, if the Supreme Court for any reason. And they shouldn't because the language is clear. And also, the facts are clear. If we don't have it, we're not going to have a country. We're going to be in very, very serious financial trouble,” said Trump.
He also said that he was taking $17 trillion as tariffs, adding that without tariffs, it would no longer be possible to execute the “big plans” of his government in the US.
“We're going to be in very, very serious financial trouble. You know, we are taking in $17 trillion. Every inch of that money is because of tariffs. 17 trillion,” said Trump.
“This nation has never taken in one 10th of that. We're taking in $17 trillion. They're coming. Like, if we don't have tariffs, those same big plans that we have they're going to be built in other countries. It's a pretty bad statement,” he added.
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‘Case sponsored by other countries’
He also said that there is a court case against the tariffs sponsored by other countries, which wanted to take unfair advantage of the US in trade.
“We have a court case, and again, we have a court case, sponsored by other nations because they're taking advantage of us and they want to keep taking, and they're not going to take advantage anymore,” said Trump.
“Look at the deal I signed with the European Union. They're still signed with Japan. The deal I can sign with India, it's a different world from what we were doing. We are rich again. But if we lose the power of tariffs, and that means that's not only the money that comes in, it's the power to negotiate. Because I can say, if you do that, then I'm going to charge your tariffs on that,” he added.