Shillong, August 21: Former US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his stance on India’s high tariffs imposed on American automobile manufacturers, particularly motorcycles and cars. He has stated that if he returns to power in 2024, he will implement a reciprocal tax in response to India’s import tariffs.
Trump’s concern has been directed at India’s import tariff on Harley Davidson motorcycles. Since 2019, during his presidency, he has been urging India to eliminate the export duty entirely.
In an interview on Fox Business News, Trump highlighted the disparity in tariffs between the two countries. He questioned the fairness of India’s tariff policies, which impose significant taxes on American products. He used the example of Harley-Davidson motorcycles facing high tariffs when imported to India, while Indian motorcycles face no such taxes when entering the US.
He stated, “So, I said, so they can sell their Indian motorbike. They make a bike, an Indian motorbike. They can sell that into our country with no tax, no tariff, but when you make a Harley, when you send it over there — because they were doing no business… The tariff is so high that nobody wants it.”
Trump also emphasized the idea of “retribution,” proposing that if India charges the US with high tariffs, the US should respond in kind.
During a previous interview in 2019, Trump had criticized India’s tariffs, expressing dissatisfaction with the 100 percent tax on motorcycles and contrasting it with the absence of tariffs on Indian motorcycles in the US.
Although India reduced the customs duty on Harley-Davidson motorcycles to 50 percent in 2018 after Trump’s concerns, he deemed it unacceptable, continuing to assert that the US was being taken advantage of economically.
In this latest interview, Trump underscored his intention to address this tariff imbalance through reciprocal measures if he were to regain the presidency in 2024.