Set to meet ‘fantastic Modi’ next week, Trump says ‘India a big abuser’ of free trade

Even as former US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “fantastic”, he slammed India as a “big abuser”.

Trump also revealed that he and Modi have a meeting scheduled for week.

At a town hall in Michigan during the presidential election campaign, Trump said “Modi is a fantastic man” and is coming to meet him next week.

Modi is visiting the United States during September 21-24 for the Quad Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden. He will also address the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). On the sidelines, he is also expected to have a bilateral meeting with Biden.

Even as the Indian government has not confirmed it, Trump —the Republican presidential nominee— has said that he and Modi will meet during the visit. It is known if Modi will also meet Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

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‘India is a big abuser, it’s very tough’

When asked about international trade, Trump dubbed India “a big abuser” of free trade.

Trump clubbed India with China and Brazil and said these countries were “tough” in dealing with the United States.

Trump said, “Modi is a fantastic man — a lot of these leaders are fantastic. These people are sharpest. They are at the top of their game and they use it against us. India is very tough. Brazil is tough. China is the toughest of them all.”

Speaking about the trade barriers that countries like China put, which take manufacturing out of the United States and blocks market access until you manufacture locally, Trump said that he has a two-pronged approach for it. One, he would impose reciprocal tariffs. Two, he would ask companies to manufacture in the United States to sell goods in the country.

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To institutionalise this, Trump said he would get the Congress to pass a reciprocal tax law.

Trump said, “We are gonna do reciprocal trade tax. If someone charges us 10 cents, 2 dollars, 100 per cent, or 250 per cent, we charge them the same. Do you know what’s gonna happen? Everything is gonna disappear and we’ll have free trade again. If it doesn’t happen, we’re gonna put it all out of market.”

Speaking about local manufacturing, Trump said that China told Elon Musk that Tesla cars would not be allowed in China unless he manufactured locally and there was “nothing wrong with it”. He said he would do the same with other companies in the United States — just like he did when he was the president.

Trump’s comments come at a time the United States and China are engaged in a trade war. Most recently, the United States imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and metal imports. In recent years, the United States has also sought to block China’s access to advanced semiconductor technologies and strictly regulate technological cooperation with China — while incentivising semiconductor research and development (RD) and manufacturing domestically.