Trump Announces Reciprocal Tariffs On India, Other Nations Starting April 2

During his first address of his second term to a joint session of Congress, United States President Donald Trump strongly defended his stringent tariff policy, reiterating that the US has long faced high tariffs from multiple countries, including India.

"If you don't make your product in America under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff, and in some cases, a rather large one. Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades and now it's our turn to start using them against those other countries," Trump declared during his speech.

'It's very unfair'

Listing nations that he claimed impose "tremendous" tariffs on the US, Trump specifically mentioned India. "On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada ...have you heard of them? And countless other nations charge us tremendously high tariffs than we charge them," he stated.

"It's very unfair," he added.

Highlighting India in particular, Trump said, "India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100 percent."

He further compared tariff imbalances, saying, "China's average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them and South Korea's average tariff is four times higher."

April 2 Tariffs to Take Effect

Trump announced that the US would introduce reciprocal tariffs on several nations starting from April 2, intentionally avoiding April 1 so as not to coincide with "April Fools' Day."

"On April 2nd, I wanted to make it April 1st but didn't want it to be accused of April Fools' Day... it's a lot of money... April 2nd reciprocal tariffs kick in, whatever they tariff us, we will tariff them, a reciprocal back and forth... if they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, we will do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market," Trump stated.

His announcement on reciprocal tariffs was met with resounding applause and a standing ovation from his loyal supporters in Congress.

The announcement follows the US government's decision on Tuesday to proceed with punitive 25 percent tariffs on its neighbouring trade partners, Canada and Mexico.

Additionally, tariffs on Chinese goods were doubled from 10 percent to 20 percent, with the US citing Beijing's alleged inaction regarding fentanyl production as a key factor.