Governance-Tariffs by India are no longer acceptable: Trump

Reviving his attack on India for imposing high import duties, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that tariffs are "no longer acceptable".

Reviving his attack on India for imposing high import duties, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that tariffs are "no longer acceptable". "India has long had a field day putting Tariffs on American products. No longer acceptable!," tweeted Trump.

This has come days after India and the US agreed to hold talks to discuss differences on trade matters between the two countries. This would be the first engagement between the two sides on trade issues after the meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with Trump in Osaka on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

Trump has repeatedly called India for imposing higher tariffs. However, during his meeting with Modi, he maintained a soft stance and agreed to resolve trade issues through talks. The trade talks between the two countries slowed down after Washington rolled back the privileges that New Delhi was availing under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme since June 5.

The GSP, implemented since 1974, is the largest and oldest US trade-preference scheme and it allows duty-free imports for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries. On its part, India had also imposed retaliatory tariffs on 25 American goods, less than two weeks after the Trump administration announced an end to the preferential trade treatment for India over the trade barriers.During US State Secretary Mike Pompeo's visit to New Delhi, India and the US had acknowledged there were issues between the two countries on trade and committed themselves to remove differences between them.

Speaking to the media after talks with the visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said both the countries should take "constructive and pragmatic view" on the issues pertaining to trade between them. Jaishankar asserted that India is committed to making business easier between the two countries.

Last year, India had announced tariffs in retaliation to higher US import duties on steel and aluminium. Asserting that great friends are bound to have disagreements, Pompeo, in his remarks, said that Washington and New Delhi need to solve trade issues as there are millions of opportunity before the two countries. (ANI)

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