‘India has more tariffs than nearly any other country,’ says Donald Trump hours before meeting PM Modi at White House

PM Modi in US: US President Donald Trump announced on February 14 that his administration will soon impose "reciprocal tariffs" on trading partners, opening new fronts in his global trade war.

While signing the executive order at the Oval Office, Trump said India has more tariffs than any other country. President Trump's remarks come barely hours before his scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the states on a two-day visit.

There is no clarity on when the tariffs would take effect.

"India has more tariffs than nearly any other country," Donald Trump said while talking about his intentions of imposing reciprocal tariffs, Reuters reported.

‘Apply to all countries with no exceptions’

Modi will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on February 14. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders after the inauguration of Trump as the 47th US President on January 20, 2025.

President Trump said reciprocal taxes would apply to all countries with no exceptions. He also asserted that US allies were often worse than enemies on trade, as he addressed the press at the Oval Office.

“I have decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff. It is fair to all. No other country can complain,” the US President said.

The levies would be tailored to each US trading partner and consider factors including value added tax (VAT).

Trump has announced a broad range of tariffs targeting some of the biggest US trading partners since taking office, arguing that they would help tackle unfair practices – and in some cases using the threats to influence policy.

India is a very hard place to do business: Trump

Trump has referred to tariffs as a way to raise revenue, remedy trade imbalances and pressure countries to act on US concerns. Trump, who took office January 20, also announced tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports beginning on March 12.

Earlier, he announced tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, but paused the latter two for a month after the countries made border security pledges. He imposed 10 percent tariffs on goods from China, and imposed a 30-day hold on tariffs on goods from neighboring Canada and Mexico.

On the meeting between Modi and Musk, Trump said he assumed that Tesla chief wanted to do business in India. “But India is a very hard place to do business in because of the tariffs. They have the highest tariffs...It's a hard place to do business. I would imagine he met possibly because he is running a company, he is doing this as something that he has felt strongly about for a long time,” he said

(With AFP inputs)