United States President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that reciprocal tariffs will be imposed on India, China and other countries from April 2.

“On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada and countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs,” said Trump during his address to the joint session of the US Congress, his first since assuming office in January. “India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100%. China’s average tariffs on our products are twice of what we charge them. This system is not fair to the United States of America.”

He added: “So, on April 2, I wanted to make it April 1 but I did not want to be accused of April’s Fools Day, reciprocal tariffs kick in.”

Previously, the Republican leader had repeatedly iterated his intention to impose a reciprocal tax on India, citing the high tariffs by New Delhi on foreign goods.

On January 27, he vowed to impose taxes on India, China and Brazil, stating that the countries impose high tariffs and harm DC’s Washington’s interests.

“We are going to put tariffs on outside countries and outside people that really mean harm to us,” Trump had told House Republicans in Florida. “Well, they mean us harm, but they basically want to make their country good.”

In December, Trump said that India and Brazil were among the countries that charged high tariffs on US products.

“The word reciprocal is important because if somebody charges us – India, we do not have to talk about our own – if India charges us 100%, do we charge them nothing for the same?” Trump had said.

His announcement about reciprocal tariffs on India came on the day the 25% tax he imposed on imports from Mexico and Canada kicked in.

On Tuesday, Trump said the tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports were intended to force the two neighbouring countries of the US to “step up their fight against fentanyl trafficking and stop illegal immigration”, reported AP.

In his address on Wednesday, the US president said: “If you do not make your product in America, you will pay a tariff. And in some cases, a rather large one.”

He claimed that other countries had used tariffs against the US “for decades” and said it was now “America’s turn to do the same”.

“Whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them,” said Trump. “That is reciprocal, back and forth.”

In the run-up to the US presidential elections, Trump, who was also president of the country between 2017 and 2021, vowed to introduce a reciprocal tax if he was re-elected.

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.

In August 2023, he claimed that India imposes excessively high tax rates on American products, and said that he would introduce reciprocal taxes if he were to come to power in 2024.

In February 2019, India slashed the customs duty on imported motorcycles such as Harley-Davidson to 50% after Trump called it “unfair” and threatened to increase the tariff on the import of Indian bikes to the United States. Trump had responded at the time saying that the rate was still “unacceptable”.

Three months later, Washington had terminated the designation of India as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences Programme, claiming that India had not assured the US that it would “provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets”. Trump was the president of the United States at the time.

Under the programme, certain products can enter the United States duty-free if beneficiary developing countries meet the eligibility criteria established by its Congress.