Donald Trump resumes threatening India

Like his actions during the Covid-19 pandemic over a misunderstanding in the supply of HCQ and his earlier efforts to market Harley Davidson motorcycles in India, United States President-elect Donald Trump has indicated a willingness to impose retaliatory tariffs on nations such as India and Brazil. He views this as a necessary response to the elevated tariffs these countries have placed on specific American imports.

While Indians by and large support a Republican regime in the US, Trump said while speaking to reporters on December 16, “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."

During a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump addressed inquiries regarding a possible trade agreement with China. He specifically mentioned India and Brazil as countries that impose significant tariffs on various US products and indicated intentions to respond accordingly.

“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.

Trump's nominee for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, echoed the Republican's remarks, informing reporters that "reciprocity" will be a significant focus for the Trump administration. “How you treat us is how you should expect to be treated," he said.

Was the Biden administration better for India?

On December 17, during a press briefing in Washington, Kurt Campbell, the Deputy Secretary of State, stated that the outgoing Biden administration was departing with the India-US relations positioned “in a very strong place". Further, he expressed optimism that this positive trajectory would persist under a Trump presidency.

“We are quite confident that we'll be handing the bilateral relationship off to the incoming Trump team at its strongest possible apex, with key support from stakeholders in the industry, in technology, in finance and defence. As we were here today, it was inspirational to see the manifestations of engagement between the United States and India in critical endeavours associated with space," Campbell said.