‘Will Trump’s good friend in Delhi stand up?’: Congress on US threat to GST
Talks of reciprocal tariffs by the United States president was calling into question a consumption tax like the Goods and Services Tax, the party said.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday asked whether United States President Donald Trump’s “good friend in New Delhi” will stand up to the reciprocal tariffs being imposed by Washington that were threatening the “very existence” of the Goods and Services Tax.
Ramesh was referring to the perceived close ties between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump. His remarks came after Trump on February 13 imposed reciprocal tariffs with no exceptions. The tariffs were not specific to India.
At a press conference alongside Modi hours later, Trump said that India had been strong on tariffs and the so-called reciprocal measures were “very fair”. The US president has previously claimed that India is a “very big abuser” of the trade relationship with his country.
On Wednesday, Ramesh said that “this talk of reciprocal tariffs by the US president” was calling into question a consumption tax like the Goods and Services Tax.
“By its very structure, GST is applicable to imports but not on exports,” the Rajya Sabha MP said on X. “This has never been disputed.”
Ramesh added that national sovereignty was at stake. “Will President Trump’s good friend in New Delhi, who keeps trumpeting that he is a Vishwaguru, stand up?” he asked.
The Indian National Congress has long been calling for a GST 2.0 that will make GST a truly Good and Simple Tax, as it was intended to be. It has called for the barest minimum of rates and vastly reformed compliance rules.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) February 19, 2025
Now President Trump is threatening the very existence…
The Congress leader also noted that his party had “long been calling for a GST 2.0 that will make GST a truly Good and Simple Tax, as it was intended to be”. The Opposition party had “called for the barest minimum of rates and vastly reformed compliance rules”, he said.
Ramesh also shared an article published on Scroll about the latest round of proposed tariffs from the US including a response to what the White House called “unfair” taxes, specifically, value-added taxes such as Australia’s Goods and Services Tax.
Most economically advanced countries have a value-added tax or sales tax on consumption. This applies to domestic goods and services as well as to imports. However, the US does not impose a sales tax, though many of its states impose their own.
According to Washington, these taxes apply to imported goods and not to exports. It remains unclear how the Trump administration intends to implement such a tariff.
‘Nobody can argue with me’: Trump
Meanwhile, Trump on Tuesday said that he had made it clear to Modi that India would not be spared from the reciprocal tariffs being imposed by Washington.
“Nobody can argue with me” on the tariff structure, he said.
The US president made the remarks during an interview given jointly with billionaire Elon Musk to conservative news channel Fox News
“I told Prime Minister Modi yesterday – he was here – I said, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do: reciprocal,’” Trump said. “He [Modi] goes: ‘No, no, I don’t like that.’ ‘No, no, whatever you charge, I’m going to charge.’ I’m doing that with every country,” Trump added.
