On Saturday, US President Donald Trump alleged India of imposing “high-tariff” on the US. He said that he wants a “reciprocal tax” or “at least some kind of tax". "India is a very high-tariff nation. They charge us a lot", said Trump while addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland suburb of Washington DC.
In his speech which lasted for more than two hours, Trump touched a wide range of issues including domestic, global and bilateral relationship with countries like India. Referring to his often-cited example of the iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Trump said, “When we send a motorcycle to India, it's a hundred per cent tariff. They charge 100 per cent when India sends a motorcycle to us, we brilliantly charge them nothing...so, I want a reciprocal tax or at least, I want to charge a tax. It's called the mirror tax, but it's reciprocal", Trump insisted.
At a White House event earlier this year, Trump had voiced his support for reciprocal tax. He had said that he was to an extent satisfied with the Indian decision to reduce the import tariff on Harley-Davidson motorcycles from 100 per cent to 50 per cent. "Even this is not enough, this is okay", he had said.