In his first speech of his second term to a joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump justified his aggressive tariff strategy, pointing out that the United States has been hit with high tariffs from various nations, including India.
“If you don’t make your product in America during the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff, and in some instances, a pretty big one. Other nations have taken advantage of us for decades with tariffs, and now it’s our turn to begin using them against those other nations,” Trump said.
Trump Criticizes Tariffs from Several Nations
Trump criticized a number of nations for charging high tariffs on American products, including the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico, and Canada. “On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada… have you heard of them? And countless other countries charge us really high tariffs than we charge them,” he added.
“It’s very unfair,” Trump continued, noting India’s auto tariffs, which he said are over 100 percent. He also noted that “China’s average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them, and South Korea’s average tariff is four times higher.”
Reciprocal Tariffs Announced
Trump declared that the U.S. would impose reciprocal tariffs beginning on April 2, rather than April 1, to avoid any connection with April Fools’ Day. April 2nd I wanted to do it on April 1st but not get caught in April Fools’ Day. it’s too much money. April 2nd reciprocal tariffs begin, whatever they tariff us, we’ll tariff them back, a back-and-forth reciprocal.”. if they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us from entering their market, we will do non-monetary barriers to keep them from entering our market,” he stated.
Trump’s statement was greeted with a loud standing ovation from his supporters at the House.
Other Tariff Decisions
This was in response to the U.S. move earlier in the week to go ahead with 25 percent tariffs on its neighboring nations, Canada, and Mexico, and doubling tariffs on Chinese imports from 10 to 20 percent, citing China’s inaction on its suspected involvement in the production of fentanyl.