'We get along with India very well, but....': Trump amid tarrif dispute
New York/Washington(PTI): President Donald Trump has said the US gets along with India “very well” but the relationship was "one-sided" for many years since New Delhi was charging Washington “tremendous tariffs”.
“No, we get along with India very well,” Trump said in the White House on Tuesday in response to a question on whether he is considering taking away some of the tariffs imposed on India.
Trump’s comments come amid a strain in ties between New Delhi and Washington after the US imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, among the highest in the world.
He said that for many years, the relationship between India and the US was “one-sided” and that changed when he assumed office.
“India was charging us tremendous tariffs, about the highest in the world,” Trump said, adding that the US was therefore not doing much business with India.
“But they were doing business with us because we weren't charging them, foolishly, we weren't charging them,” he said, adding that India was pouring its products into the US.
“They'd send it in, pour it into our country. Therefore it wouldn't be made here, which is a negative, but we would not send in anything because they were charging us 100 per cent tariffs,” Trump said.
The US president cited the example of the Harley Davidson motorcycles, saying the company couldn't sell into India because there was a 200 per cent tariff on a motorcycle.
"So what happens? Harley Davidson went to India and built a motorcycle plant, and now they don't have to pay tariffs, same thing as us,” he said.
On Monday, Trump claimed that India has now "offered" to cut its tariffs to nothing, “but it’s getting late”, as he said that India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia and very little from the US.
The Trump administration has imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent levies for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 per cent, with effect from August 27.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted he can't compromise on the interests of farmers, cattle-rearers, small-scale industries, cautioning "pressure on us may increase, but we will bear it".
India has called the tariffs imposed by the US “unjustified and unreasonable”.
New Delhi said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.
In 2024-25, the bilateral trade in goods between the two countries stood at USD 131.8 billion (USD 86.5 billion exports and USD 45.3 billion imports).
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Mercury plunges in Kashmir after brief respite, Shopian freezes at minus 6.4 deg C
Srinagar (PTI): Night temperatures in Kashmir dropped several degrees below the freezing point, even as a thick layer of fog engulfed parts of the valley, with Srinagar recording a low of minus 4.1 degrees Celsius, officials said on Saturday.
Shopian was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir as the mercury there settled at a low of minus 6.4 degrees Celsius, they said.
The mercury had on Thursday night settled above the freezing point at most places in the valley, providing huge relief to the residents from the biting cold conditions.
However, temperatures dropped across Kashmir on Friday night, bringing back the freezing cold, the officials said.
On the Friday night, the minimum temperature in Srinagar -- the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir -- settled at minus 4.1 degrees Celsius, a sharp drop from 0.4 degrees Celsius the previous night, the officials said.
The gateway town to the valley, Qazigund, recorded a low of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, while the mercury settled at minus 3.5 degrees Celsius in north Kashmir's Kupwara, and minus 0.2 degrees Celsius in south Kashmir's Kokernag, the officials said.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, while Gulmarg lodged minus 2.6 degrees Celsius and Konibal town in Pulwama district recorded minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, they said.
The meteorological department said the weather would remain generally cloudy but dry on December 6-7, and a brief spell of light snowfall at isolated places in the higher reaches of north and central Kashmir is likely on December 8.
