Washington/New Delhi, Feb 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a much tougher and better negotiator than me, said US President Donald Trump on Thursday.
At a news conference following their bilateral meeting on Thursday, where tariffs were a key topic of discussion, Trump remarked, “He is a much tougher negotiator than me. He is a better negotiator than me. There is not even a contest.”
Earlier in the day, Trump introduced a plan for a system of reciprocal tariffs and criticized India, describing it as "one of the highest tariff nations in the world."
“It’s very difficult to sell into India because of their trade barriers and very high tariffs,” Trump said, emphasizing the global trade deficit of $98.4 billion the U.S. faces as a central concern in his trade policies.
He threatened to impose reciprocal tariffs, matching the tariffs that India and other countries place on U.S. imports. "We are, right now, a reciprocal nation," he stated. "Whatever India charges on imports from the U.S., we’re going to charge them the same."
“We’re going to keep it simple—we’ll just match whatever you charge, and I think that’s fair for the people of the United States, and honestly, I think it’s fair for India too,” he added.Top of Form
Earlier on Thursday, when Trump introduced the reciprocal tariff plan, he did not specify new tariffs but instead issued a memorandum instructing his nominees, Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary and Jamieson for international trade representative, to develop a tariff plan for each country within 180 days.
After signing the memorandum, Trump reiterated his concerns about India’s tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles. “Harley-Davidson couldn’t sell their bikes in India because the tax was so high, the tariff was so steep,” he said.
“I think they ended up building a factory in India to avoid paying those tariffs,” he added. “And that’s what people can do with us... If you build here, you pay no tariffs at all.”
