WASHINGTON: Former US President Donald Trump has once again brought up the issue of high taxes imposed by India on specific American products, particularly the iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles. He has gone on to issue a warning of imposing retaliatory taxes on India if he secures victory in the 2024 presidential elections.
During his initial tenure as the US president, Trump labeled India as a "tariff king." In May 2019, he withdrew India's preferential market access under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), alleging inadequate and inequitable market access for the United States.
Currently leading the Republican presidential primaries, Trump commands over half of the GOP votes, as per prominent national polls. Despite facing multiple legal challenges and indictments, the 77-year-old former president remains a potent force in American politics.
In a recent interview, Trump vehemently criticized India's taxation rates, which he contended were unreasonably high. He pointedly referred to the case of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, noting that while Indian-made motorcycles entered the US market without tariffs, American-made Harley-Davidsons faced tariffs as high as 200% when entering India.
The former president highlighted the disparity in trade practices, revealing that India discouraged imports of Harley-Davidson motorcycles through exorbitant tariffs, while simultaneously urging the US to establish manufacturing plants within its borders to bypass these tariffs.
Trump criticized the inconsistency in the trade relationship, questioning why the US couldn't impose any tariffs in response to India's high tariffs on American goods. He framed his approach as a form of reciprocity, where if India charged tariffs on American products, the US would respond in kind.
“The other thing I want to have is a matching tax where, if India charges us -- India is very big with tariffs. I mean, I saw it with Harley-Davidson. I was saying, how do you do in a place like India? Oh, no good sir. Why? They have 100 percent and 150 percent and 200 percent tariffs,” said the former president.
“So, I said, so they can sell their Indian motorbike. They actually make a bike, an Indian motorbike. They can sell that into our country with no tax, no tariff, but when you make a Harley, when you send it over there -- because they were doing no business. I said, how come you don't do business with India? The tariff is so high that nobody wants it. But what they want us to do is, they want us to go over and build a plant, and then you have no tariff,” Trump said.
“They said, well, that's not good. That's not our deal, OK? That's not our deal. And I came down very hard on them. But India is very big. Brazil is very big on tariffs, I mean, very, very big. We had a couple of people, like the senator from a place called Pennsylvania that I love. But this guy was just horrendous. I said, let me ask you a question. If India is charging us 200 percent, and we're charging them nothing for products, can we charge them 100 percent? No, sir, that's not free trade. Can we charge them 50 percent? No, sir. Twenty-five, 10, anything? No. I said, what the hell is wrong? There's something wrong. You know what I'm talking about,” he said.
“If India is charging us too, so what I want to have is a -- call it retribution. You could call it whatever you want. If they are charging us, we charge them,” Trump said in response to a question.
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