Fact vs fiction: Ex-US President Trump's tariff tussle with India

US' trade policy highlights India's need to follow its own strategic priorities without yielding to external pressure

On October 11, during a public meeting in Detroit, former US President Donald Trump called India the “biggest charger” of tariffs on foreign goods. This wasn’t his first criticism. Last month, he called India “an abuser” of import tariffs, and in 2020, he labelled the country “Tariff King.” Let’s look at whether Mr Trump’s claims about India’s high tariffs are accurate, whether India’s tariffs break global trade rules, and how this affects the India-US relationship.

Trump focuses on the highest tariffs: India’s average import tariff is 17 per cent, higher than the US’ 3.3 per cent, but Mr