Donald Trump claims tariffs up to 50% will benefit US economy, cites India’s example, ‘that’s how they survive’
President Donald Trump claimed tariffs up to 50 per cent on foreign imports are beneficial for the United States. He feels the US will make a “fortune” with high tariffs on trading partners.
In an interview with Times Magazine, Trump highlighted how countries such as India and China became rich by charging duties up to 100-150%.
“Because the country (US) will be making a fortune. Look, that’s what China did to us. They charge us 100%. If you look at India—India charges 100-150%. If you look at Brazil, if you look at many, many countries, they charge—that’s how they survive. That’s how they got rich,” Trump said.
His response comes to the question of whether high tariffs on foreign imports in the range of 20%, 30%, or 50% a year from now will be considered a victory for the United States.
Bringing manufacturing back to the US
Speaking further on the topic, Trump mentioned how zero tariffs will be levied on companies manufacturing in the United States.
“Now, zero would be easy. Oh, zero would be easy, but zero, you wouldn’t have any companies coming in. They’re coming in because they don’t want to pay the tariffs. Remember this, there are no tariffs, if they make their product here. There are no tariffs, if they make their product here. There are no tariffs,” he added.
Trump on the impact on latest policies
Expressing his optimism over the latest polices, Trump said, “We’re taking in billions and billions of dollars, money that we never took in before. We’re also, very importantly, because of that, because of the money we’re taking in, those companies are going to come back and they’re going to make their product here.”
Are companies moving back to the US?
According to the President, many companies have shifted operations to the United States.
“They’re going to go back into North Carolina and start making furniture again. They’ve already started. In Mexico, many car plants that were under construction have stopped. They’re all coming into this country. We’re gonna, you’re gonna see car plants going at a level that you’ve never seen before,” he said.
‘200 deals signed so far,’ Trump claims
While discussing the negotiations during the 90-day pause over the reciprocal tariffs, Trump claimed that 200 deals have been signed. However, he did not share specific details regarding the deals.
On April 2, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on trading partners, imposing nearly 50 per cent duties on some countries. However, he later declared a 90-day pause on duties for other trading partners while hiked tariffs on China to a whopping 125%.