New Delhi [India], July 31 (ANI): Amid the Opposition’s walkout from the Upper House, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the latter would not want to take “accountability” for the 25 per cent tariffs imposed by the United States.
This announcement follows an earlier move on April 22, when Trump imposed a 26 per cent tariff on Indian goods imported into the US, before later pausing those “reciprocal” levies.
He also referred to the claim of US President Donald Trump on brokering peace between Indian and Pakistan.
Tiwari told ANI on Wednesday, “… The reply given by the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) yesterday in the Lok Sabha is like a betrayal of the Parliamentary traditions. He has insulted the Rajya Sabha and the dignity of the upper house. He had said he would be coming to the Rajya Sabha today (Wednesday)… After his speech yesterday, the US President again said he was involved in the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. He might have got scared because he wouldn’t want to take accountability for the 25% tariffs imposed by the US… This is why we staged a walkout.”
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (local time) that Washington is continuing trade negotiations with India.
In response to ANI, if the US remains open to negotiating with India on the tariff front, Trump stated, “We’re talking to them now. We’ll see what happens. Again, India was the highest or just about the highest tariff nation in the world, one of the highest, 100 points, 150 points or percentages. So India was one of the highest in the world. They had 175 per cent and higher than that.”
After announcing a 25 per cent tariff and penalties for purchasing Russian oil, he emphasised that India is one of the countries imposing high tariffs on the US.
He made the comments during a press conference at the White House, held to mark the signing of a Congressional bill.
Earlier today, Trump, taking to Truth Social, announced a 25 per cent tariff on India in addition to a penalty for buying Russian oil. The tariffs will be imposed starting August 1, he further stated.
“Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump stated in his post.
“Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE – ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST 1st. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!” the post added.
The US President, during the conference, further clarified the terms of the penalties imposed on India, noting New Delhi was part of the BRICS grouping and calling the alliance “anti-United States.” He further accused the alliance of its “attack on the dollar.”
“We’re negotiating right now, and it’s also BRICS. They have BRICS, which is basically a group of countries that are anti-United States, and India is a member of that, if you can believe it. It’s an attack on the dollar, and we’re not going to let anybody attack the dollar. It’s partially BRICS, and it’s partially the trade. This trade situation is a deficit. We had a tremendous deficit,” Trump stated.
He emphasised India-US ties, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “friend,” while noting the US trade deficit with India. He further noted that it “doesn’t matter too much” if the India-US deal reaches a certain tariff.
“As you know, Prime Minister Modi is a friend of mine, but they don’t do very much business in terms of business with us. They sell a lot to us, but we don’t buy from them. You know why? Because the tariff is so high. They have one of the highest tariffs in the world. Now they’re willing to cut it very substantially. But we’ll see what happens. We’re talking to India now,” the US President said.
“We’ll see what happens. It doesn’t matter too much whether we have a deal or whether we charge them a certain tariff. But you’ll know at the end of this week. August 1st is a very big day for this country because money is going to pour into the United States like we’ve never seen before,” he added. (ANI)
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed of ANI; only the image & headline may have been reworked by News Services Division of World News Network Inc Ltd and Palghar News and Pune News and World News
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