 "'Won't buy one bushel of US corn': Commerce secretary Lutnick warns India of 'tough time' in ties over tariffs")
India boasts of being a nation of 1.4 billion people but refuses to buy even a small quantity of American corn, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said, warning that New Delhi must lower its tariffs or face difficulties in doing business with Washington.
Speaking to Axios in an interview, Lutnick said on Saturday “India brags that they have 1.4 billion people, then why wouldn’t they buy one bushel (25.40 kg) of corn from us. Doesn’t that rub you the wrong way? They sell everything to us and they won’t buy our corn. They put tariffs on everything."
When asked whether the United States was mismanaging “very valuable relationships” with allies such as India, Canada and Brazil through its tariff policies.
“The relationship is one way, they sell to us and take advantage of us. They block us from their economy, and they sell to us while we are wide open for them to come in (and) take advantage,” Lutnick said. “The president says, ‘fair and reciprocal trade’,” he added.
“India brags that they have 1.4 billion people. Why won’t 1.4 billion people buy one bushel of US corn? Doesn’t that rub you the wrong way that they sell everything to us and they won’t buy our corn. They put tariffs on everything,” Lutnick said.
He added that President Donald Trump has said “‘bring down your tariffs, treat us the way we treat you’”.
The commerce secretary further said “we’ve got to right years of wrong so we want a tariff going the other way until we fix this”.
“That’s the president’s model, and you either accept it or you’re going to have a tough time doing business with the world’s greatest consumer,” Lutnick said.
The Trump administration has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, including 25 per cent for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, among the highest imposed on any country in the world.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIndia has described the US action as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.
Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.
With inputs from agencies
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