United States President Donald Trump on Thursday said that India had been strong on tariffs and the so-called reciprocal measures he was introducing were “very fair”.

Trump made the comments during a press conference alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.

“India has been very strong on tariffs,” said the US president. “I do not blame them necessarily but it’s a different way of doing business. It’s hard to sell into India because they have trade barriers, very strong tariffs. Right now we are a reciprocal nation...Whatever India charges [us], we are charging them...which I think is a very fair way.”

He added that he wanted to introduce reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including India, in his first term between 2017 and 2021, but delayed it because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We felt that now it’s finally time after 45 or 50 years of abuse,” he said. “This isn’t [just] India, this is among a lot of nations. The European Union is very very difficult for us.”

The US president said that the tariffs imposed by India “no longer matter” because “whatever they charge [we reciprocate]”.

Trump added that he had told New Delhi during his first term that the tariffs were too high but that he was unable to get a concession.

The comments by the US president came after his meeting with Modi and hours after he imposed reciprocal tariffs with no exceptions. The reciprocal tariffs were not specific to India.

“Traditionally, India is right at the top of the pack pretty much,” Trump told reporters. “There are a couple of smaller countries that are actually more but India charges tremendous tariffs.”

The plan was among Trump’s election promises. He said in October that “reciprocity” would be an important element of his economic plan to “make America extraordinarily wealthy again”.

On September 17, Trump called India a “very big abuser” of the trade relationship with his country.

On Thursday, Modi said that New Delhi and Washington will work on an “early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement”.

In a joint statement after their meeting, Modi and Trump said that they had welcomed early steps to demonstrate their mutual commitment to “address bilateral trade barriers”.

“The United States welcomed India’s recent measures to lower tariffs on US products of interest in the areas of bourbon, motorcycles, ICT [Information and Communication Technology] products and metals, as well as measures to enhance market access for US agricultural products..." the statement said.

Trump approves extradition of Tahawwur Rana

The US president on Thursday announced that his administration had approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, one of the persons accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack case, to India.

“He’s [Rana] going to be going back to India to face justice,” Trump said.

Rana, a Pakistan-origin Canadian businessman, is in jail in Los Angeles awaiting his extradition. He is wanted in India for his alleged role in the attacks on November 26, 2008, when 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists took a sea route from Pakistan to Mumbai and attacked several locations across the city.

The attack resulted in the death of 166 persons, including 26 foreign citizens.

The United States’ Supreme Court had cleared the extradition of Rana to India in January.

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