He did not identify the countries they were trying to counter, although China was an obvious target. US President Donald Trump has said that he expects India to lower tariffs substantially, but will go ahead with his plan to charge a reciprocal rate. “I believe they’re going to probably going to be lowering those tariffs substantially, but on April 2, we will be charging them the same tariffs they charge us”, he said in an interview published on Thursday.
“I have a very good relationship with India, but the only problem I have with India is they’re one of the highest tariffing nations in the world”, he told Breitbart, a conservative news outlet. Asked about the India-Middle East-Europe-Economic Corridor (IMEC), he said that it was by a “group of wonderful nations” banding together “countering other countries that look to hurt us on trade". He did not identify the countries they were trying to counter, although China was an obvious target.
The IMEC was proposed at the 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi and along with India and the United States, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Germany, and Italy signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the project. It would include both sea and land routes and connect India to Italy via the Middle East, and then aspirationally across the Atlantic to the US. Trump reinforced US commitment to the project during Prime Minister Narendra Modi during last month’s visit to the White House, calli.
