Donald Trump vows reciprocal tariffs for India, China ‘soon’, says trade must be fair

“We’ll soon impose reciprocal tariffs because that means, they charge us, we charge them. It’s very simple,” Trump declared. “Whatever a company or a country — such as, let’s say, India or China — charges us, we want to be fair … so reciprocal. Reciprocal meaning, ‘they charge us, we charge them.’”

He noted that the US had never fully enforced this principle before but was now preparing to do so.

Earlier in the week, in a joint Fox News interview with billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and has emerged as a key ally of the president, Trump had doubled down on his message, stating that he had explicitly told Modi that India would not be exempt from Washington’s new trade policies. “I told Prime Minister Modi yesterday—he was here—I said, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do: reciprocal. Whatever you charge, I’m charging,’” Trump recalled.

Hours before his meeting with Modi, Trump had already set the stage, announcing that the US would be rolling out reciprocal tariffs on trading partners.

On Friday, he heaped praise on the newly appointed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, calling him a business-savvy leader. “Howard understands something about business,” he remarked.

Trump also took a moment to reminisce about his pre-pandemic economic success, stating: “Before Covid hit, we had the greatest economy in the history of the world.”

Adding a touch of humour, Trump joked about how ‘tariff’ was once his favorite word but had since dropped to fourth place — behind ‘family,’ ‘love,’ and ‘God.’ “I think, let’s put God first. You know why? Because we don’t want to take any chances,” he quipped, prompting laughter in the room.

“I did that once — I said ‘tariff’ is my favourite word. The fake news went out and really got me. They said, ‘What about God, family, relationships?’ And I said, ‘You are right!’” Trump chuckled. “So now, I’ve made it my fourth favorite word.”

The upcoming tariffs are expected to intensify trade tensions between the US and its global partners, setting the stage for fresh negotiations—or confrontations—on the world trade front.

(With inputs from PTI)