If New Delhi taxes us, US will impose reciprocal tariff: Trump’s warning to India

‘They have been taxing us, but we haven’t been’

“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 (December 17).

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He made the remarks while responding to a question on a potential trade agreement with China. Trump said India and Brazil were among countries that impose high tariffs on certain US products.

Why reciprocal taxes are important

“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 at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago.

Responding to a question, his Commerce Secretary pick Howard Lutnick said “reciprocity” is something that is going to be a key topic for the Trump administration. “How you treat us is how you should expect to be treated,” he said.

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Ultimatum to Canada, Mexico

Besides pointing to the US’ trade with India and Brazil, Trump also spoke about commerce relations with China, Mexico and Canada, which he asserted would be given the same treatment of “reciprocal taxes”.

With drug smuggling being a major concern at US’ borders with Canada and Mexico, Trump said his government would impose 25 per cent tax on all imports from the two countries if they do not address drug trafficking and illegal migration across borders.