US President Donald Trump announced broad "discounted" reciprocal tariffs on multiple countries, including India, which will face a 27% import duty. Describing the move as a "kind reciprocal," Trump stated that the tariffs would not be fully equal, with the US imposing roughly half the levies that other nations charge Washington.
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NewsTranscript
00:00:00And the big news is here from the United States of America.
00:00:03Donald Trump has imposed reciprocal tariffs one after another on nations including India.
00:00:10What has been his decision for India that the country was eagerly waiting and watching?
00:00:1526% tariff on Indian imports, 25% tariff on foreign made automobiles.
00:00:22Remember that Indian imports largely with regard to the bilateral trade decision will
00:00:27stand.
00:00:28But there was also a separate tariff that he had said on automobiles, automated parts
00:00:32and if that is going to be made in America or assembled in America, those companies will
00:00:39get relief.
00:00:40But if it's foreign made, it would be 25% tariff.
00:00:44In many ways, let me tell you that compared to other nations, from what I can see, it
00:00:48appears that India has definitely got a certain discount.
00:00:53Donald Trump also went ahead, specifically mentioned India vis-a-vis Prime Minister Narendra
00:00:59Modi.
00:01:00Here's how Donald Trump went ahead with the tariff.
00:01:04What did he say about India, then about China as well?
00:01:08And amid all of this, how will the friendship between PM Modi and Donald Trump help ahead?
00:01:22If you look at that, China, first row, China, 67%, that's tariffs charged to the USA, including
00:01:32currency manipulation and trade barriers.
00:01:35So 67%, I think you can, for the most part, see it.
00:01:39Those with good eyes with bad eyes.
00:01:41We didn't want to bring.
00:01:42It's very windy out here.
00:01:43We didn't want to bring out the big charts because it had no chance of standing.
00:01:47Fortunately, we came armed with a little smaller chart.
00:01:51So 67%.
00:01:53So we're going to be charging a discounted reciprocal tariff of 34%.
00:01:57I think, in other words, they charge us.
00:02:00We charge them.
00:02:01We charge them less.
00:02:02So how can anybody be upset?
00:02:03They will be because we never charge anybody anything.
00:02:06But now we're going to charge European Union.
00:02:10They're very tough, very, very tough traders.
00:02:14You know, you think of European Union, very friendly.
00:02:16They rip us off.
00:02:18It's so sad to see.
00:02:20It's so pathetic.
00:02:2139%.
00:02:22We're going to charge them 20%.
00:02:24So we're charging them essentially half Vietnam.
00:02:27Great negotiators, great people.
00:02:30They like me.
00:02:31I like them.
00:02:32The problem is they charge us 90%.
00:02:34We're going to charge them 46% tariff Taiwan, where they make they took all of our computer
00:02:41chips and semiconductors.
00:02:43We used to be the king, right?
00:02:44We were everything.
00:02:46We had all of it.
00:02:47Now we have almost none of it, except the biggest company is coming in.
00:02:50They're going to have.
00:02:51We're going to end up with almost 40%.
00:02:52Lee Zeldin is working to get their approvals.
00:02:55And it's an amazing company.
00:02:57Mr. Wei of one of the great companies of the world, actually, they're coming in from Taiwan
00:03:02and they're going to build one of the biggest plants in the world, maybe the biggest for
00:03:06that.
00:03:07But 64%, we're going to charge him 32%.
00:03:10Japan, very, very tough.
00:03:13Great people.
00:03:15And again, I don't blame the people for doing it.
00:03:17It's I think they're very smart and do it.
00:03:19I blame the people that sat right in that Oval Office, right over there, right behind
00:03:23the Resolute desk or whichever desk they chose.
00:03:26Japan, 46%.
00:03:28They would charge us 46% and much higher for certain items like cars, you know, little
00:03:34items like cars, 46% were charging him 24% India, very, very tough, very, very tough.
00:03:42The prime minister just left and he's a great friend of mine.
00:03:46But I said, you're a friend of mine, but you're not treating us right.
00:03:50They charge us 52%.
00:03:51You have to understand, we charge him almost nothing for years and years and decades.
00:03:55And it was only seven years ago when I came in.
00:04:00We started with China, Georgia.
00:04:02We took in hundreds of billions of dollars from China in tariffs.
00:04:07And they understood, honestly, President Xi understood.
00:04:11He said, Look, I understand.
00:04:13The other countries and they all understand we're going to have to go through a little
00:04:16tough love, maybe, but they all understand.
00:04:19They're ripping us off.
00:04:20And they understood it.
00:04:22Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo, was Shinzo Abe.
00:04:28He was a fantastic man.
00:04:30He was unfortunately taken from us assassination.
00:04:34But I went to him and I said, Shinzo, we have to do something.
00:04:38A trade is not fair.
00:04:40He said, I know that.
00:04:41I know that.
00:04:43And he was a great gentleman.
00:04:44He was a fantastic man.
00:04:47But he understood immediately what I was talking about.
00:04:50I said, Shinzo, we have to do something.
00:04:52He said, I know that.
00:04:53And we've worked out a deal and it would have been a much better deal.
00:04:56But frankly, there were many years left in the deal that was made previous to my getting
00:05:01there.
00:05:02But it was it was something.
00:05:04If you look at Switzerland, 61% to 31% Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia.
00:05:10Oh, look at Cambodia, 97%.
00:05:14We're going to bring it down to 49.
00:05:15They made a fortune with the United States of America, United Kingdom, 10%.
00:05:20And we'll go 10%.
00:05:22So we'll do the same thing.
00:05:25South Africa, oh, 60%, 30%.
00:05:28And they've got some bad things going on in South Africa.
00:05:32You know, we're paying them billions of dollars a week.
00:05:35Cut the funding because a lot of bad things are happening in South Africa.
00:05:38The fake news ought to be looking at it.
00:05:40They don't want to report it.
00:05:41Brazil, 10%, 10%.
00:05:44Bangladesh is 74%.
00:05:47So you see what's going on.
00:05:49Pakistan, 58%.
00:05:52Sri Lanka, 88%.
00:05:56So what we're doing is we're taking not the full, we could take the full 88%.
00:06:00Thanks a lot.
00:06:03So finally, it's official.
00:06:04He had a full on chart to compare what the countries charge the United States of America
00:06:08as goods coming into their respective countries.
00:06:11And then the decision that he has taken, his administration has taken, and why.
00:06:16Let's go across and get some expert views on this as well.
00:06:19Joining me from the United States of America from Washington, political analyst Rohit Sharma.
00:06:24Also our colleague from Business Today television, Karishma Sudhani, joining me this morning.
00:06:29Rohit, first to you, tell me about this press conference, this announcement.
00:06:34I'm sure the world was watching in.
00:06:37There are observers, bureaucrats, experts were watching in.
00:06:40What do we make of this announcement, the whole theatrics he had with the chart, and
00:06:45of course, the highlight of India?
00:06:47Well, look, you know, this was something that was billed as the liberation day.
00:06:53Donald Trump has talked about this for years now, you know, going back to the 80s and his
00:06:59first administration in 2017.
00:07:02So this has been on his mind forever.
00:07:05And today was one of those days that he was looking forward to it.
00:07:09He initially wanted to announce this on April 1st, and then somebody in the administration
00:07:12told him that's April Fool's Day.
00:07:14So he moved it to April 2nd, and he was really wanting to do this.
00:07:18There were a lot of plans that were presented to him, some by, you know, the vice president,
00:07:22some by Lutnick, Secretary Rubio was involved, we were told.
00:07:26So I think at the end of the day, you know, I think he's been wanting to do this for some
00:07:30time, and he's trying to sell these tariffs, these new tariffs as a plan to bring jobs
00:07:37back to America, bring manufacturing jobs back to America, set, you know, bring the
00:07:44deficit down, right, and also trying to make sure that he can sort of, you know, play hard
00:07:51ball with countries that do not see eye to eye on certain issues with America.
00:07:56So he's trying to do a lot of these things with this one big plan that he has, which
00:07:59is tariffs.
00:08:00Now, in the executive order that he signed, it's clearly stated that, you know, these
00:08:05tariffs will stay in place until the president thinks that, you know, he can resolve them.
00:08:10So that's one of the goals, that's a domestic message.
00:08:13And the bigger, the larger thing is, I think his policy or, you know, what he's thinking
00:08:18essentially is, he's going to have trade agreements with EU, with UK, with India and other countries
00:08:23that will allow America to levy some of these tariffs, and also work on a trade deal that
00:08:29allows America to reduce some of the deficits.
00:08:32So I think that's the big plan here.
00:08:34But again, you know, this is Donald Trump, who's been talking about it for 40 plus years,
00:08:38and he was able to make it a big deal.
00:08:40In the second administration, he's definitely taken some decisions.
00:08:43And remember, the world was on edge because, and we'll know in a while, when the markets
00:08:47open, what will be the response to it.
00:08:49And that's where I bring in Karishma, must have been a long night, all our colleagues
00:08:53at Business Today were tracking this midnight announcement.
00:08:56Karishma, tell me first about India, because would I be correct to say that compared to
00:09:01other nations, India has definitely got a fair discount in terms of how, when I see
00:09:09China, about over 34%, India gets 26%.
00:09:14And we sometimes charge high on the US imported goods.
00:09:21Well, it's definitely done some good to us, because the recent negotiations that we had
00:09:29with the US officials visiting India, but does it keep us on the safe line?
00:09:35Not really, because we are also going to be majorly impacted in about one hour, our markets
00:09:42will react to it.
00:09:43Japan has already slumped about 4%, South Korean markets have not taken it well either.
00:09:48The US markets itself, of course, have not taken it either.
00:09:52There could be a two-way approach to look at this, Pooja.
00:09:57There is, of course, a direct hit on our exports that is expected, and we export a lot.
00:10:02We export close to about $75 billion to US, let alone in a year, and our exports are going
00:10:10to be impacted clearly.
00:10:12But there is an indirect approach, and this is going to be on a global trade disruption,
00:10:17which is imposing significant, these tariffs could have extreme impacts on major trading
00:10:26partners, because the Chinese imports, the Vietnamese goods, all of this are being impacted,
00:10:33and this will create some kind of trade barrier.
00:10:35There could be currency fluctuations that we could see, and potential trade opportunities
00:10:41leading to policy uncertainty.
00:10:43So on a macro level, I think it's more of a worry rather than a direct hit, because
00:10:49I think countries were preparing for this direct hit.
00:10:53And perhaps many were expecting over 50%.
00:10:56He says that he's been able to kind of adjust and give what he believes is correct.
00:11:02Thank you very much, Karishma, for now.
00:11:04Rohit, I request you to please stay on with me.
00:11:06Now, of course, for us, remember, the focus is as much India, because he did talk about
00:11:12specifically India and specifically about Prime Minister Modi, the friendship that he
00:11:16has with him, and how if India is charging over 50% on certain US important goods, he's
00:11:22decided to only go ahead right now with 26% tariff is what he said.
00:11:26Let's listen in to excerpts from that announcement of Trump.
00:11:32The United States charges other countries only a 2.4 tariff on motorcycles.
00:11:39Meanwhile, Thailand and others are charging much higher prices, like 60%.
00:11:46India charges 70%.
00:11:47Vietnam charges 75%, and others are even higher than that.
00:11:52Likewise, until today, the United States has, for decades, charged a 2.5 tariff.
00:11:59Think of that 2.5% on foreign-made automobiles.
00:12:04The European Union charges us more than 10% tariffs, and they have 20% VATs, much, much
00:12:12higher.
00:12:13India charges 70%, and perhaps worst of all are the non-monetary restrictions imposed
00:12:19by South Korea, Japan, and very many other nations.
00:12:22As a result of these colossal trade barriers, 81% of the cars in South Korea are made in
00:12:29South Korea, 94% of the cars in Japan are made in Japan, Toyota sells 1 million foreign-made
00:12:38automobiles into the United States, and General Motors sells almost none, Ford sells very
00:12:44little.
00:12:45None of our companies are allowed to go into other countries.
00:12:49India, very, very tough, very, very tough.
00:12:52The prime minister just left, and he's a great friend of mine, but I said, you're a friend
00:12:57of mine, but you're not treating us right.
00:13:00They charge us 52%.
00:13:01You have to understand, we charge them almost nothing for years and years and decades.
00:13:05All right, I have a big news coming in.
00:13:09Let's take a look at that.
00:13:10This is, remember, in many ways, the consequence, the repercussions that are happening, the
00:13:14tremors with regard to different markets.
00:13:17Nasdaq futures tumbling 4% in after-hours trade from $760 billion that was wiped out
00:13:23from the market value of, we are told, the magnificent 7 technology leaders.
00:13:28Apple opens new tab shares, hit hardest as the company makes iPhones in China.
00:13:33It's been down by nearly 7% is what we are told.
00:13:38S&P 500 futures has fallen for about 3.3%.
00:13:43FTSE futures falling 1.8%.
00:13:46European futures fell about nearly 2%.
00:13:49So look at that.
00:13:51That's the response in many ways to the uncertainty in the market, to what Donald Trump's announcement
00:13:56has been.
00:13:57Remember that China gets a 34% tax.
00:14:01Japan, similar to India, about 24% tariff.
00:14:05Vietnam, 46%.
00:14:07That's a big whopping number.
00:14:09South Korea gets about 25%.
00:14:11So South Korea's KOSPI, KS11, opening a new tab fell 2%.
00:14:18YNX, Vietnam, open new tab falling more than 8%.
00:14:23This is the after-hours trade.
00:14:25Australian shares, again, opening new tab fell about 2%.
00:14:31Markets in Taiwan have been closed for a holiday.
00:14:33Remember, every country was watching what USA, usually, as we also call it, a superpower
00:14:40of the world, decides for the tariff.
00:14:42So it wasn't just about India.
00:14:44Almost every nation that does trade with the United States of America, and almost all
00:14:48nations do, they were watching carefully how much tariff will they get, and the kind of
00:14:53uncertainty now reflected in this after-hours trade as well.
00:14:58So I want to bring in a special panel of guests joining us this morning, Indian Standard Time.
00:15:04Rabindranath Sajdev, he's the Director of India Affairs, US-INPAC.
00:15:08Sajid Antarar, he's the Trump Republican Party leader, he's also the CEO, Center for Social
00:15:12Change.
00:15:13Professor Gabriel P. Mathis joining me, Associate Professor from the Department of Economics,
00:15:18American University.
00:15:19I want to first come to you, Sajid Antarar, what do you make of this announcement?
00:15:24All countries were watching.
00:15:26Do you think that he's been a fair man here, or do you think he's gone ahead and done what
00:15:32simply was about American interests?
00:15:35I have been watching his speech, and matter of fact, I have gone over a couple of times,
00:15:41let me tell you what the objectives he wants to achieve, bring American jobs back, companies
00:15:46back, tax cuts, and deficit reduction.
00:15:50This is what his objectives are.
00:15:53He again and again, he has mentioned that making America wealthy again, and not only
00:15:59this, he has given an example of FDR in 1913, and then at the same time, NAFTA, he brought
00:16:08up the NAFTA, where 90,000 factories have been closed, more than 5 million jobs were
00:16:14lost.
00:16:15And not only this, he's the president who's a nationalist, he's a nationalist like Modi
00:16:20Saab is a nationalist.
00:16:21So making America great again, our own infrastructure, and again, he has said the French have been
00:16:27ripping us off in the past, and now the point has come up that I have to watch Americans,
00:16:34how he can cut the taxes, and how he can reduce the trade deficit.
00:16:38So I believe it's wonderful, it will be a hiccup in the beginning, but later on, long
00:16:45term.
00:16:46And here, I wanted to mention what his biggest show was, is autoworkers.
00:16:50Today you have seen, he brought up one of the autoworker up there who was a union.
00:16:56And keep in your mind, while he was running for the office, unions, those mostly, most
00:17:02of the time, traditionally, vote as Democrat, but this time, they supported him.
00:17:07So he wanted to reward them, he wanted to bring Detroit back.
00:17:11So that's what his objectives are, mainly autos.
00:17:15And you have mentioned, I have been watching it, India charged 100% on the agriculture
00:17:20project.
00:17:21So I think he has given a sweet deal to India for 26%.
00:17:24Again, I wanted to mention President Trump always gives credit to Prime Minister Modi.
00:17:30Each time his name comes up, he always mentions that he's a good friend, and he's a good negotiator.
00:17:36So I think India is...
00:17:38Somewhere that has played into the 26% coming in for India.
00:17:45Good point made by Sajid Tarar, hiccups in the beginning, could then it perhaps become
00:17:50more streamlined in the days to come, all countries will be negotiating further as much.
00:17:55Stay on with me, because I want to quickly bring in my colleague Karishma Sudhani.
00:18:00The news that we just broke about Nasdaq futures tumbling 4% in the aftertrade, $760 billion
00:18:06apparently wiped out from the market value.
00:18:08Tell us more about S&P 500 futures, fell 3.3%.
00:18:12Well, definitely, the markets across the world have reacted to it.
00:18:18While the announcement was being made, the US markets tumbled.
00:18:22We saw a slump there, and this was pretty much expected.
00:18:25The Japan markets this morning, they've tanked down by close to 4%.
00:18:29The South Korean market's 2%, a happy day for Taiwan, because their markets are today
00:18:35shut.
00:18:36But likely, we're going to see Indian markets also react to it, and because status is not
00:18:42a happy news to come in for any country, especially because how their exports usually get impacted,
00:18:49definitely Indian markets are going to react to it, and we may expect some kind of fall.
00:18:57But as we know that the volatility is unpredictable, the markets may also take it in a different
00:19:02way.
00:19:03I had mentioned to you this before, that it definitely does have a direct impact on our
00:19:10exports, but it also has some kind of indirect impacts, which could be pro or a con.
00:19:17It could be good or a bad, a bust or a boom.
00:19:20It could either do well for us as the silent heroes in terms of the trade wars, where we
00:19:27may want to move our exports to different countries and trade and open up our barriers
00:19:35towards new countries and look at adding-
00:19:37In Asia itself, especially in Southeast Asia, some of the countries, putting their territorial
00:19:42issues aside and trying to do regional trade more now, as in when it can now escalate.
00:19:49That's what a lot of countries are evaluating as well.
00:19:52Karishma, thank you very much for now.
00:19:53I want to bring in Professor Gabriel P. Mathe.
00:19:55Now, he's the Associate Professor, the Department of Economics, American University.
00:20:00Professor Gabriel, you tell me this.
00:20:03Can we say that Donald Trump behaving like a true businessman, who is also now a president?
00:20:11He's working unlike his predecessors.
00:20:14He's talking numbers.
00:20:15He's talking percentage.
00:20:17How do you make of what this will now lead to geopolitics in terms of connections?
00:20:23Well, I think we can see it in the stock markets, which are plunging around the world.
00:20:27So it doesn't seem like it's very good for business.
00:20:30It's meant to improve American business, and yet the stock markets are crashing.
00:20:35You know, I don't understand why we're imposing tariffs on India.
00:20:38India is an ally.
00:20:39India is a democracy.
00:20:40We should be working together with India, trying to contain China.
00:20:44Instead, what we're doing is putting tariffs on our allies, weakening American soft power
00:20:49abroad and weakening our allies.
00:20:51I find it to be totally nonsensical.
00:20:53Fair point.
00:20:55Would you want to elaborate on that?
00:20:57Because in many ways, that's where a politician or a political mind comes in, that you may
00:21:01want to put reciprocal tariff on all countries, but you also have to look at the country that's
00:21:05been your friend.
00:21:07Yes, and we must say it's come out since the hour since that meeting that it's not exactly
00:21:13a reciprocal tariff.
00:21:15In fact, the calculation is based on the American trade deficit.
00:21:19So it's not directly based on, for example, the tariffs that India is imposing.
00:21:23It's based on the amount of imports that America takes in.
00:21:29And so essentially, if America is running a trade surplus, we're exporting more than
00:21:33we're importing to a country, they get a 10 percent tariff no matter what.
00:21:37And then the tariffs are based on the American trade deficit.
00:21:41We could imagine a more sensible policy that would be based on tit for tat, but it appears
00:21:45that the White House has said that that's not exactly, in fact, how the tariffs have
00:21:49been determined.
00:21:50Do you believe this individual percentage has been chosen?
00:21:54There must have been negotiations and discussions on his table as well from his experts.
00:21:59Do you think that, like he says, Modi is a friend, India is a friend, and such discussions
00:22:06have possibly played into him deciding that individual number?
00:22:11Well, we can't say for sure.
00:22:13I mean, it was widely reported that the tariffs were only decided a few hours before the meeting.
00:22:18I suppose that will come out in the next few days.
00:22:20But let's think about a country like Vietnam, which the United States is trying to ally
00:22:24with to try to contain China, which I think is an important geopolitical objective.
00:22:28The U.S. has now put on 46 percent tariffs on Vietnam.
00:22:33That will essentially really decimate their export industry and push them closer to China.
00:22:38So if Donald Trump sees China as a force to be contained, then these tariffs are going
00:22:42to be counterproductive because we're putting huge tariffs on our geopolitical allies.
00:22:47This is an interesting point, because while talking as a businessman, is he looking really
00:22:52at who the allies could be?
00:22:54We'll also look at the United Kingdom, the European Union.
00:22:58I want to bring in Rabindra Sajdev now.
00:23:00Rabindra, you tell me, as Director, India Affairs, how do you look at, there are diverse
00:23:05perspectives coming in, very interesting.
00:23:07When Donald Trump sees a 46 percent for Vietnam, 34 percent for China, 26 percent for India,
00:23:13what kind of thinking do you think has gone behind this?
00:23:17Thank you very much.
00:23:19See a couple of things.
00:23:20The way Trump operates, you know, he solicits from his advisors their plans.
00:23:26So let's say the Treasury Secretary, the Commerce Secretary, etc., as Gabriel is mentioning,
00:23:31all of them came up with their individual or collective plans.
00:23:34And at the last minute, then Trump goes with his gut feel as to which plan he will go by.
00:23:39That's his standards, you know, modus operandi in his business and in his politics.
00:23:44Secondly, let's look backwards.
00:23:47You know, the objective of these tariffs, yeah, sure, is, you know, balancing out unfair
00:23:51trade, which has been a pet peeve of Trump for the last 50 odd years.
00:23:56You go back to his interviews with New York Times, with Oprah Winfrey, wherever, in Playboy
00:24:00magazine, he's always been talking, the world has been ripping us, ripping us, ripping us.
00:24:04In the 80s, he would say Japan, and then he would say the sheikhs and the Arab world.
00:24:09So that has been very much a pet peeve, belief with him.
00:24:13And now he's got that chance, ultimately, to do it.
00:24:15So like, in a way, yesterday was his moment.
00:24:17I mean, it was his crowning moment to implement what he really genuinely thinks, by the way.
00:24:23What he really wants, they are looking at his advisors and Trump raising money from these
00:24:30tariffs.
00:24:31Sure, it's to balance out the unfair trade.
00:24:34All of that is there.
00:24:35But Peter Navarro, his trade advisor, he has estimated that the US could raise up to $6
00:24:41trillion over the next 10 years through these tariffs.
00:24:45There is some other study which says, I mean, Navarro's office is an acolyte of Trump, but
00:24:50some of the study which says $3 trillion.
00:24:53So $3 to $6 trillion is the money they're looking to raise via these tariffs.
00:24:57That's why he says these tariffs will make America rich.
00:25:02So he is looking to raise the tariffs, bring in $3 to $6 trillion into the US Treasury,
00:25:08and then use that money to give tax breaks.
00:25:11See, his political agenda is low taxes.
00:25:14OK, so how does he lower the taxes?
00:25:17The US without, I mean, how does he lower the taxes?
00:25:20He needs more revenues in the Treasury, right?
00:25:23So, or without going into more of a deficit.
00:25:25So he brings in, or this money comes in, which then he uses to lower the taxes, one.
00:25:31Secondly, he uses this money to pacify some segments of industry or working class who
00:25:38are negatively impacted.
00:25:40So let's say the auto workers in the US are being negatively impacted.
00:25:44What he's going to do is give some rebates to the industry.
00:25:46In fact, he already mentioned, if you see, American consumers, since the prices of cars
00:25:52will go up, he's saying that we will give you rebate on your income tax on the interest.
00:25:58So in a sense, you know, he's robbing Peter to pay Paul to make sure that,
00:26:04sorry, his political agenda goes side by side.
00:26:08So that's a big one.
00:26:11Quickly to Vaithanam.
00:26:12Go ahead.
00:26:12Vaithanam is a classic example.
00:26:14American firms will hammer because many of them have shifted over the last 10-20 years.
00:26:20They're huge manufacturing outsourcing in Vaithanam.
00:26:24So, I mean, these kind of tariffs on Vaithanam will negatively, majorly impact many of the
00:26:29American companies who have their, you know, operations there in Malaysia, Indonesia,
00:26:34Thailand, etc.
00:26:35So there would be an impact not only on the firms of these countries,
00:26:41okay, which are local there who are exporting to America, but also American corporations,
00:26:45you know, on their China plus one strategy who are moving away from China, going to Indonesia,
00:26:50going to Vaithanam.
00:26:51Vaithanam benefited hugely because of that.
00:26:53Now, all of those firms would be, you know, in a dilemma.
00:26:56Last point, this will begin a season of what I say, 10% hunting.
00:27:02Companies will now hunt out the countries where the tariffs are 10%
00:27:06and look to locate.
00:27:08We'll start scenario modeling right now must be happening in corporate boardrooms.
00:27:13You know, Oman is a 10%.
00:27:15Some other country has a 10%.
00:27:16They will look to...
00:27:17A lot of African nations 10%, Egypt is 10%, yeah.
00:27:21So, so you would, if you're a global corporation, you will look to see, okay,
00:27:25let's say auto parts manufacturers from India would be majorly hurting, right?
00:27:30They could see, okay, Oman is a nearby place, fairly stable and only 10% tariff.
00:27:35Why not I shift some of my manufacturing there?
00:27:38That is something, yes, the companies could be looking at.
00:27:41I request, gentlemen, please stay on with me because I want to put for the viewer,
00:27:45because all of this, remember, happened late into the night.
00:27:48What did Donald Trump say?
00:27:49Some of the excerpts, some of the strong comments and full-on theatrics.
00:27:53He had a full-on chart ready with him about the charges that are levied on,
00:27:58on the taxes that are levied on the US goods imported
00:28:01and what America has decided in turn to impose.
00:28:04Let's listen in to that.
00:28:08Canada, by the way, imposes a 250 to 300% tariff on many of our dairy products.
00:28:14They do the first, the first can of milk.
00:28:18They do the first little carton of milk at a very low price,
00:28:22but after that it gets bad and then it gets up to 275, 300%.
00:28:26So when they're figuring what's Canada charging, they say, oh, about 2%, 3%.
00:28:32But take a look at what happens down the road when you look a little bit.
00:28:35It's not a pretty picture and we don't like it and it's not fair.
00:28:38It's not fair to our farmers.
00:28:40It's not fair to our country.
00:28:42And with countries like Canada, you know, we subsidize a lot of countries
00:28:47and keep them going and keep them in business.
00:28:50In the case of Mexico, it's $300 billion a year.
00:28:54In the case of Canada, it's close to $200 billion a year.
00:28:58And I say, why are we doing this?
00:28:59Why are we doing this?
00:29:00At what point do we say you got to work for yourselves?
00:29:05This is why we have the big deficits.
00:29:07This is why we have that amount of debt that's been placed on our heads
00:29:12over the last number of years.
00:29:14And we're really not taking it anymore.
00:29:17I blame former presidents and past leaders who weren't doing their job.
00:29:20They let it happen and they let it happen to an extent that nobody can even believe.
00:29:25That's why effective at midnight, we will impose a 25% tariff
00:29:30on all foreign made automobiles.
00:29:38And I say that friend and foe.
00:29:40And in many cases, the friend is worse than the foe in terms of trade.
00:29:45But such horrendous imbalances have devastated our industrial base
00:29:49and put our national security at risk.
00:29:52Johnson & Johnson, great company, $55 billion.
00:29:56Eli Lilly, $27 billion.
00:29:59MEDA is investing $500 billion.
00:30:03Wow.
00:30:05DMACC is investing $20 billion.
00:30:08CMA, CGM, $20 billion.
00:30:11And then you have Merck and Clarios, Stelantis, General Motors,
00:30:16GE Aerospace, Honda, Nissan.
00:30:19Hyundai are all putting in billions and billions of dollars
00:30:22and they're committed 100%.
00:30:25This is a company that built its factories and its plants in China.
00:30:30Apple is going to spend $500 billion.
00:30:35They never spent money like that here.
00:30:37They're going to build their plants here.
00:30:39SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle, great, great companies,
00:30:45are investing $500 billion almost immediately.
00:30:49NVIDIA, a hot company, is investing hundreds of billions of dollars.
00:30:54They just announced.
00:30:54TSMC, the biggest, most important company in the world of chips from Taiwan,
00:31:01with no investment from us, is investing $200 billion.
00:31:05And they said the reason was, number one, the election of November 5th.
00:31:08And number two, the tariffs.
00:31:10They don't want to pay the tariffs.
00:31:12And the way they're not paying it is to build their plant here.
00:31:14So we're going to go from almost no percentage.
00:31:17We used to have 100% of the chip market.
00:31:19Now it's all in Taiwan, almost all of it's in Taiwan.
00:31:22A couple of other countries, but mostly in Taiwan.
00:31:25Likewise, to all of the foreign presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, ambassadors,
00:31:30and everyone else who will soon be calling to ask for exemptions from these tariffs, I say,
00:31:36terminate your own tariffs.
00:31:38Drop your barriers.
00:31:40Don't manipulate your currencies.
00:31:42They manipulate their currencies like nobody can even believe,
00:31:46which is a bad, bad thing and very devastating to us.
00:31:50And start buying tens of billions of dollars of American goods.
00:31:53Tariffs give our country protection against those that would do us economic harm.
00:31:58And many people were looking to do us economic harm.
00:32:02Maybe not so obviously, but they were doing tremendous economic harm.
00:32:08But even more importantly, they will give us growth.
00:32:11These tariffs are going to give us growth like you haven't seen before.
00:32:15I call this kind reciprocal.
00:32:18This is not full reciprocal.
00:32:20This is kind reciprocal.
00:32:22But what we do is we cut it in half, we charge them.
00:32:26My answer is very simple.
00:32:27If they complain, if you want your tariff rate to be zero,
00:32:31then you build your product right here in America,
00:32:33because there is no tariff if you build your plant, your product in America.
00:32:38At the same time, we will establish a minimum baseline tariff of 10 percent.
00:32:43You notice that on the chart.
00:32:45And that'll be on other countries to help rebuild our economy and to prevent cheating.
00:32:50So we're going to have a minimum of cheating and we're going to be very severe on the people that
00:32:55at the gate that watch the tariffs and watch the product coming in,
00:32:58because there's been a lot of a lot of bad things happening at the gate.
00:33:03Right, let's go back to our panels right now.
00:33:05And this is I want to take a question from Rohit right now.
00:33:09Rohit, what do you think will be the political fallout of it?
00:33:13Any words yet from the Democrats, from the opposition,
00:33:16or perhaps they'll all be, of course, waiting and strategizing how to go about it.
00:33:22As we were discussing this, White House sent out an email
00:33:26for various, you know, right wing associations that have come out and
00:33:30issued a statement in support of these tariffs.
00:33:33Also, the Democrats have been warning about this for some time.
00:33:37You know, there are two things there.
00:33:39First things, I think, Pooja, you've got to understand when President Trump talks about
00:33:43tariffs and bringing manufacturing back to the US,
00:33:46he's talking about those blue collar workers who are in those swing states.
00:33:51And this could, if it works out, it'd be great for whoever is running in 2028.
00:33:55And we do not know who that person is.
00:33:57So I think it's appealing very well with his base.
00:33:59But as far as politicians are concerned, some there have been some apprehensions
00:34:03within the Republican Party.
00:34:05Some senators, like Senator Tom Tillis, who is going for re-election next year,
00:34:10has expressed that he wants to wait and watch how this plays out.
00:34:13So nobody knows for sure.
00:34:14The Democrats obviously have cautioned against this.
00:34:17They know that this is going to raise prices for basic American consumers.
00:34:23They've come out and said this is a disastrous policy.
00:34:26So we're seeing all that play out.
00:34:27I mean, they're looking at the stock market.
00:34:29They're looking, they've been warning that this will eventually happen.
00:34:33And President Trump has cautioned all Americans to say that there will be,
00:34:37you know, there will be tough times ahead.
00:34:39But trust in me and have trust in this plan.
00:34:42So yes, this could possibly be one of the most important decisions.
00:34:45It's definitely, without a doubt, a radical decision that Donald Trump has announced.
00:34:50And it remains to be seen how the countries, in the days to come,
00:34:53and the companies, both in America and in other nations,
00:34:56will respond and react to these developments as well.
00:34:59Professor Gabriel, I bring you in here.
00:35:02You know, I'm looking at the Asian nations.
00:35:04I'm looking at Cambodia, that levies 97%, got about 49%.
00:35:09Sri Lanka, levying 88%, gets about 44% of a tariff.
00:35:15Even a country like Thailand, though levying about 72% of tariff on American goods,
00:35:20gets about 36%.
00:35:22But these are developing economies.
00:35:24These are developing countries, have had their share of burdens.
00:35:28And to that margin, this sounds definitely like a higher tariff
00:35:33compared to, let's say, the European Union or other Western partners.
00:35:37How are you then looking at it in terms of both economics and politics?
00:35:41Because I'd like to believe more and more countries would want to invest in Asia.
00:35:45Now what will happen?
00:35:48Yes, I mean, we have to say the effect on these Asian countries,
00:35:51very poor countries' exports will be devastating.
00:35:54I mean, I think a more productive approach would be to think about,
00:35:57you know, how to get high paying jobs, like final assembly jobs,
00:36:01and try to have auto parts be done, which are more labor intensive
00:36:06in countries with lower wages, say in Asia,
00:36:08to try to have a more constructive relationship
00:36:10and try to encourage economic development
00:36:13and encourage, you know, friendly relations between these countries.
00:36:16I think this is just going to push them into the arms of China.
00:36:20They're going to perhaps see China as a more reliable economic partner.
00:36:24And so I think these are really going to be very harmful for these Asian countries.
00:36:29And especially when, if you are looking to counter China,
00:36:32these are the charges being levied, how does that go?
00:36:34I want to bring in Sajid Tarar.
00:36:36Let's look at Pakistan as well.
00:36:38Levying 58% on American goods, 29% in turn is what Donald Trump has announced.
00:36:47Do you think that's a discounted tariff coming in for Pakistan
00:36:50that USA has long had a certain friendship with?
00:36:55Matter of fact, these days, if you see it,
00:36:58Trump administration has a pretty fair relationship with Pakistan right now,
00:37:02if you see it with the IMF loans and with the money going there
00:37:06for the F-16 repair and everything.
00:37:08But this was really off guard.
00:37:10And plus, at the same time, I have to mention,
00:37:13Pakistan is not a huge industrialist country,
00:37:15so which may have a big impact, of course.
00:37:19The US is a big partner and it will have an impact on them definitely
00:37:24because this is their 23rd or 24th IMF program going on.
00:37:30But this was really off guard to me in Pakistan.
00:37:33I was not expecting the name Pakistan in the list,
00:37:36but he brought it up definitely and it was amusing to see it.
00:37:40But here I wanted to mention a little bit, I was thinking about it,
00:37:44but the other contributors were talking about it.
00:37:48Japan and the French.
00:37:49Japan is charging 700% tax on and that's not how the French do.
00:37:53Australia has banned the American beef on them.
00:37:57So this is not how the French do it.
00:37:59So I have to agree with this.
00:38:01It's a kind reciprocal taxes or tariff, matter of fact.
00:38:05Otherwise, he would have charged the 700% or 300%.
00:38:09So Japan 700% on rice and Canada 300% on butter and cheese.
00:38:15And Australia has completely banned the American beef.
00:38:18So this is not how the French treat French.
00:38:20So it has to be.
00:38:21We are talking about being fair and common sense government.
00:38:26And taxes again, some of the countries going to China.
00:38:30What do you think, that China is not going to charge them any tax?
00:38:33Chinese, they are charged tax as well.
00:38:35And China is one of the biggest manufacturers.
00:38:37China charges about 67% and the US is levying half of it, 34%.
00:38:42And this is interestingly coming for a country that Donald Trump usually says
00:38:47that they are attempting to counter the reason they are befriending India more.
00:38:51But it also has got while 34% is a high number.
00:38:54Remember, it's in contrast to 67% of China.
00:38:58So this is what is happening right now.
00:39:01Very interesting.
00:39:01Please stay on with me, gentlemen, because I want to quickly bring to the viewer.
00:39:04Because many are waking up this morning to try and understand.
00:39:07What exactly did he say?
00:39:09How did he say it?
00:39:10And fully understanding cameras and optics.
00:39:12Here's how Donald Trump, he went ahead with the reciprocal tariff.
00:39:17He'll come back and talk about the Western nations, the real allies of America.
00:39:21Let's listen in first.
00:39:24If you look at that, China, first row, China, 67%.
00:39:29That's tariffs charged to the USA, including currency manipulation and trade barriers.
00:39:36So 67%, I think you can, for the most part, see it.
00:39:40Those with good eyes with bad eyes.
00:39:42We didn't want to bring it's very windy out here.
00:39:44We didn't want to bring out the big charts because it had no chance of standing.
00:39:49Fortunately, we came armed with a little smaller chart.
00:39:53So 67%.
00:39:54So we're going to be charging a discounted reciprocal tariff of 34%.
00:39:59I think, in other words, they charge us.
00:40:01We charge them.
00:40:02We charge them less.
00:40:03So how can anybody be upset?
00:40:05They will be because we never charge anybody anything.
00:40:08But now we're going to charge European Union.
00:40:11They're very tough, very, very tough traders.
00:40:15You know, you think of European Union, very friendly.
00:40:18They rip us off.
00:40:19It's so sad to see.
00:40:21It's so pathetic.
00:40:2339%.
00:40:24We're going to charge them 20%.
00:40:26So we're charging them essentially half Vietnam.
00:40:29Great negotiators, great people.
00:40:32They like me.
00:40:32I like them.
00:40:33The problem is they charge us 90%.
00:40:35We're going to charge them 46% tariff.
00:40:39Taiwan, where they make they took all of our computer chips and semiconductors.
00:40:44We used to be the king, right?
00:40:46We were everything.
00:40:47We had all of it.
00:40:48Now we have almost none of it, except the biggest company is coming in.
00:40:52They're going to have we're going to end up with almost 40%.
00:40:54Lee Zeldin is working to get their approvals.
00:40:57And it's an amazing company.
00:40:59Mr. Wei of one of the great companies of the world.
00:41:02Actually, they're coming in from Taiwan and they're going to build one of the biggest
00:41:06plants in the world, maybe the biggest for that.
00:41:08But 64%, we're going to charge him 32%.
00:41:11Japan.
00:41:13Very, very tough.
00:41:15Great people.
00:41:16And again, I don't blame the people for doing it.
00:41:18It's I think they're very smart into it.
00:41:20I blame the people that sat right in that Oval Office right over there, right behind
00:41:24the Resolute desk or whichever desk they chose.
00:41:27Japan, 46%.
00:41:30They would charge us 46% and much higher for certain items like cars, you know, little
00:41:35items like cars.
00:41:3746%, we're charging him 24%.
00:41:40India.
00:41:41Very, very tough.
00:41:42Very, very tough.
00:41:44The prime minister just left and he's a great friend of mine.
00:41:47But I said, you're a friend of mine, but you're not treating us right.
00:41:51They charge us 52%.
00:41:53You have to understand we charge him almost nothing for years and years and decades.
00:41:57And it was only seven years ago when I came in.
00:42:02We started with China, Georgia.
00:42:04We took in hundreds of billions of dollars from China in tariffs, and they understood.
00:42:10Honestly, President Xi understood.
00:42:13He said, Look, I understand.
00:42:14And the other countries and they all understand.
00:42:17We're going to have to go through a little tough love, maybe.
00:42:19But they all understand.
00:42:20They're ripping us off.
00:42:21And they understood it.
00:42:23Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo was Shinzo Abe.
00:42:30He was a fantastic man.
00:42:31He was, unfortunately, taken from us assassination.
00:42:35But I went to him and I said, Shinzo, we have to do something.
00:42:39A trade is not fair.
00:42:41He said, I know that.
00:42:43I know that.
00:42:44And he was a great gentleman.
00:42:45He was a fantastic man.
00:42:49But he understood immediately what I was talking about.
00:42:52I said, Shinzo, we have to do something.
00:42:53He said, I know that.
00:42:55And we've worked out a deal, and it would have been a much better deal.
00:42:58But, frankly, there were many years left in the deal that was made previous to my getting
00:43:02there.
00:43:03But it was it was something.
00:43:06If you look at Switzerland, 61 percent to 31 percent.
00:43:09Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia.
00:43:12Oh, look at Cambodia.
00:43:13Ninety seven percent.
00:43:15We're going to bring it down to 49.
00:43:17They made a fortune with the United States of America.
00:43:20United Kingdom, 10 percent, and we'll go 10 percent.
00:43:24So we'll do the same thing.
00:43:26South Africa, 60 percent, 30 percent.
00:43:30And they've got some bad things going on in South Africa.
00:43:33You know, we're paying them billions of dollars a week.
00:43:36Cut the funding because a lot of bad things are happening in South Africa.
00:43:40The fake news ought to be looking at it.
00:43:41They don't want to report it.
00:43:43Brazil, 10 percent, 10 percent.
00:43:45Bangladesh is 74 percent.
00:43:49So you see what's going on.
00:43:51Pakistan, 58 percent.
00:43:54Sri Lanka, 88 percent.
00:43:57So what we're doing is we're taking not the full.
00:44:00We could take the full 88 percent.
00:44:02Thanks a lot.
00:44:03So an elaborate comment.
00:44:05And remember, while a lot of it was there in the table with regard to tariff and percentage,
00:44:09he had a lot of his own personal references to make, especially about the friendship that
00:44:14he has had, whether with the leaders in Japan, in India, or how he says, for example,
00:44:19Vietnam or other countries are literally ripping off the United States of America.
00:44:23I want to bring in Rabindra Sajdev here.
00:44:25I'm looking at European Union.
00:44:27I'm looking at the Western Nations ally.
00:44:30European Union levies 39 percent, gets only about 20 percent.
00:44:35The United Kingdom also getting just about 10 percent.
00:44:38So do you think eventually realizing, because the UK was on edge, the Euro belt literally
00:44:43was watching very carefully.
00:44:45Do you think they would think at least they are in the safe house right now with regard
00:44:50to US tariffs?
00:44:52Yeah.
00:44:52You know, I think Starmer would be one of the happiest leaders in the world today.
00:44:57I mean, the UK getting a 10 percent.
00:44:59But remember one thing, you know, this whole calculation, you know, 70 percent, 80 percent
00:45:04and all, it is based on a formula of which we have no idea.
00:45:08But this formula comprises of the actual tariff percentages, apparently.
00:45:12It also comprises of the non-tariff barriers, right, as to the non-trade barriers which
00:45:18are imposed or which American companies face.
00:45:21And they've bundled it up.
00:45:22It also includes currency manipulation or currency, you know, management, as they're
00:45:26saying.
00:45:27So it's all bundled in to reach a figure like for India, 52 percent for European Union,
00:45:32whatever percentage is, etc.
00:45:33So that's one.
00:45:34Secondly, talking about the Western nations, I do see some countries will kind of, you
00:45:39know, stay calm, bury their head for the time being, wait and watch.
00:45:43I think that's what India will do.
00:45:45Some countries could impose retaliatory tariffs also.
00:45:50EU could be in that camp.
00:45:52Canada could be in that camp because, you see, they've already been having an aggressive
00:45:56tone with respect to the tariffs, with respect to America.
00:46:00And they feel that they are being slighted, being allies and, you know, allies of the
00:46:06Western bloc.
00:46:07So I do anticipate that some countries will come back with retaliatory steps, including
00:46:11China, maybe even European Union, Canada.
00:46:15But the UK, I think, will be pretty happy and sit on the corner and let this whole issue
00:46:22play out.
00:46:22A couple of things more, I would say, in terms of the items.
00:46:26You see, OK, another thing, this will lead to inflation in America, it's expected.
00:46:31But what Trump is trying, he's trying to lower the price of oil.
00:46:36Because in his perception, and it's pretty right, you know, transportation costs add
00:46:40up to the cost of inflation very often.
00:46:42So that's why his huge emphasis on drill, baby, drill in America and lowering the cost
00:46:48of oil.
00:46:48So we will see in the coming days much more emphasis on managing somehow, if they can,
00:46:54the price of the crude oil, because all of this shock, if it goes into the American economy,
00:46:58his base will stand with him for some time.
00:47:01Forget what Democrats say, he doesn't bother with them.
00:47:03The elections are there next year of the US Congress.
00:47:06So that gives about a year.
00:47:08But in the meanwhile, his immediate next step would be to manage the oil prices so that
00:47:12the inflationary impact is lessened.
00:47:15Eventually, it will be, remember, the neighbor nations like Canada and Mexico that will want
00:47:20to see how this proceeds ahead, the Western nations as much as the Asian economies as
00:47:24well, and how they've gone ahead.
00:47:26I want to thank this panel for your views, for your perspective in helping us understand
00:47:31what really does this mean.
00:47:32Robindra Sajdev, Sajid Terrar, Rohit Sharma, Professor Gabriel B. Panthi, also joining
00:47:37us for all the latest.
00:47:38Thank you very much.
00:47:40I have news coming in.
00:47:41An Indian Air Force Jaguar fighter jet has crashed in Jamnagar.
00:47:45An Indian Air Force has put out a statement that an IAF Jaguar two-seater aircraft airborne
00:47:50from Jamnagar airfield crashed during a night mission.
00:47:53The pilots faced a technical malfunction and initiated ejection.
00:47:57They have avoided harm both to the airfield and to the local population.
00:48:01Sadly, however, one pilot succumbed to his injuries while others are receiving medical
00:48:06treatment at a hospital.
00:48:08The force, deeply regretting the loss of life, court of inquiry has been ordered to a certain
00:48:12cause of the incident.
00:48:14I want to bring in my colleague Shivani Sharma for the latest on that.
00:48:18Shivani, not the best news this morning, but tell us what exactly happened.
00:48:22And I can only think of the pilots who, in those moments, ensuring that the local population,
00:48:27the residents, all of that will be minimal damage, even at the risk of their own life.
00:48:33Pooja, this was a night mission that was being carried out by a twin-seater Jaguar fighter
00:48:38jet of Indian Air Force, where it faced a technical malfunction.
00:48:42That is the initial report that tells us.
00:48:46And the court of inquiry has already been ordered.
00:48:49And while they were trying to avoid any harm, they took this aircraft to a place that was
00:48:54away from the local population and they also avoided harm to the airfield.
00:48:58But one of the pilots, he succumbed to his injuries while the other one ejected safely
00:49:04and he's receiving medical treatment.
00:49:05But this is actually an unfortunate news where we see that the Jaguar fighter has met with
00:49:12this crash and one pilot has lost his life.
00:49:16Keep tracking all the latest on that, Shivani.
00:49:18Sadly, we've lost one pilot in this.
00:49:20Remember, it's a matter of seconds.
00:49:22And they managed to ensure that even with this crash, even though it was a technical
00:49:26malfunction, ejection was initiated, but avoiding harm to the airfield and local population.
00:49:32One pilot succumbed.
00:49:33Other is receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Jammu.
00:49:422nd of April is here.
00:49:43It was the much awaited Donald Trump reciprocal tariff announcement.
00:49:47The plan is out.
00:49:48Full on theatrics, optics.
00:49:49He had a full chart with him in which Donald Trump announced one by one about the countries
00:49:55that levies a certain tax on the USA imported goods and what he has decided to do in turn.
00:50:00He's calling them discounted reciprocal tariff on multiple countries, including India.
00:50:06Amid all of this, so what is India looking at?
00:50:08America has announced 26% reciprocal tariff on India in return for India having imposed
00:50:1552% on tariff on US imports.
00:50:18But sometimes, remember, it's often higher as well.
00:50:21He's called Prime Minister Modi, specifically mentioning him as a great friend.
00:50:24India is a great friend.
00:50:25But he says that India's tariffs have been tough and the USA was not being treated right.
00:50:32The US president announced a minimum baseline tariff of 10%.
00:50:35It was on all imports on some countries as well, especially the Western allies like New Zealand,
00:50:41UK, European Union.
00:50:42Higher rates on countries that have the highest trade deficit with the USA.
00:50:47Basically, from 10% to 49% has been that varying dimension that Donald Trump has looked at.
00:50:54Trump has announced a 25% tariff on automobiles not assembled in the USA.
00:50:59Let's listen in now to all the excerpts in case you missed because this happened
00:51:03post midnight.
00:51:04What did Donald Trump say about India and other countries?
00:51:08We were I call this kind reciprocal.
00:51:12This is not full reciprocal.
00:51:14This is kind reciprocal.
00:51:16But what we do is we cut it in half.
00:51:19We charge him.
00:51:20My answer is very simple.
00:51:21If they complain, if you want your tariff rate to be zero,
00:51:25then you build your product right here in America,
00:51:28because there is no tariff if you build your plant, your product in America.
00:51:32Likewise, to all of the foreign presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, ambassadors
00:51:38and everyone else who will soon be calling to ask for exemptions from these tariffs, I say,
00:51:44terminate your own tariffs, drop your barriers.
00:51:47Don't manipulate your currencies.
00:51:50They manipulate their currencies like nobody can even believe,
00:51:53which is a bad, bad thing and very devastating to us.
00:51:57And start buying tens of billions of dollars of American goods.
00:52:01Tariffs give our country protection against those that would do us economic harm.
00:52:06And many people were looking to do us economic harm, maybe not so
00:52:12obviously, but they were doing tremendous economic harm.
00:52:16But even more importantly, they will give us growth.
00:52:19These tariffs are going to give us growth like you haven't seen before.
00:52:23India, very, very tough, very, very tough.
00:52:26The prime minister just left and he's a great friend of mine.
00:52:30But I said, you're a friend of mine, but you're not treating us right.
00:52:34They charge us 52 percent.
00:52:36You have to understand we charge them almost nothing for years and years.
00:52:39The United States charges other countries only a 2.4 tariff on motorcycles.
00:52:47Meanwhile, Thailand and others are charging much higher prices,
00:52:52like 60 percent. India charges 70 percent.
00:52:55Vietnam charges 75 percent, and others are even higher than that.
00:53:00Likewise, until today, the United States has, for decades,
00:53:04charged a 2.5 tariff.
00:53:07Think of that, 2.5 percent on foreign-made automobiles.
00:53:12The European Union charges us more than 10 percent tariffs,
00:53:16and they have 20 percent VATs, much, much higher.
00:53:20India charges 70 percent.
00:53:22And perhaps worst of all are the non-monetary restrictions
00:53:26imposed by South Korea, Japan, and very many other nations.
00:53:30As a result of these colossal trade barriers,
00:53:3481 percent of the cars in South Korea are made in South Korea.
00:53:38Ninety-four percent of the cars in Japan are made in Japan.
00:53:43Toyota sells 1 million foreign-made automobiles into the United States,
00:53:48and General Motors sells almost none.
00:53:50Ford sells very little.
00:53:52None of our companies are allowed to go into other countries.
00:53:57Canada, by the way, imposes a 250 to 300 percent tariff
00:54:02on many of our dairy products.
00:54:04They do the first can of milk.
00:54:08They do the first little carton of milk at a very low price.
00:54:11But after that, it gets bad, and then it gets up to 275, 300 percent.
00:54:16So when they're figuring what's Canada charging,
00:54:18they say, oh, about 2 percent, 3 percent.
00:54:21But take a look at what happens down the road.
00:54:23When you look a little bit, it's not a pretty picture,
00:54:26and we don't like it, and it's not fair.
00:54:28It's not fair to our farmers.
00:54:29It's not fair to our country.
00:54:31And with countries like Canada, you know,
00:54:34we subsidize a lot of countries and keep them going
00:54:38and keep them in business.
00:54:39In the case of Mexico, it's $300 billion a year.
00:54:43In the case of Canada, it's close to $200 billion a year.
00:54:47And I say, why are we doing this?
00:54:49Why are we doing this?
00:54:49I mean, at what point do we say you got to work for yourselves
00:54:54and you got to — this is why we have the big deficits.
00:54:57This is why we have that amount of debt
00:55:00that's been placed on our heads over the last number of years.
00:55:04And we're really not taking it anymore.
00:55:06I blame former presidents and past leaders
00:55:09who weren't doing their job.
00:55:10They let it happen,
00:55:11and they let it happen to an extent
00:55:13that nobody can even believe.
00:55:14That's why, effective at midnight,
00:55:17we will impose a 25 percent tariff
00:55:19on all foreign-made automobiles.
00:55:27This is a company that built its factories
00:55:31and its plants in China.
00:55:33Apple is going to spend $500 billion.
00:55:38They never spent money like that here.
00:55:40They're going to build their plants here.
00:55:42SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle —
00:55:45great, great companies —
00:55:47are investing $500 billion almost immediately.
00:55:52Nvidia, a hot company,
00:55:54is investing hundreds of billions of dollars.
00:55:56They just announced.
00:55:57TSMC, the biggest, most important company
00:56:01in the world of chips from Taiwan,
00:56:04with no investment from us,
00:56:05is investing $200 billion.
00:56:08They said the reason was,
00:56:09number one, the election of November 5th,
00:56:11and number two, the tariffs.
00:56:13They don't want to pay the tariffs,
00:56:14and the way they're not paying it
00:56:15is to build their plant here.
00:56:17So we're going to go from almost no percentage.
00:56:20We used to have 100 percent of the chip market.
00:56:22Now it's all in Taiwan.
00:56:23Almost all of it's in Taiwan.
00:56:25A couple of other countries,
00:56:26but mostly in Taiwan.
00:56:34The first response coming in from India
00:56:36on the 26 percent tariff
00:56:37that has been imposed on our country.
00:56:40Remember, this is in response to over 50 percent,
00:56:42Donald Trump says,
00:56:44that India levies on American goods.
00:56:46Here's what India has said.
00:56:48The tariffs are a mixed bag,
00:56:49but it's not a setback.
00:56:51Commerce Ministry has said,
00:56:53we are analyzing the impact of the 26 percent tax.
00:56:57First 10 percent tariff already kicking in
00:56:59from the 5th of April.
00:57:00Remember, there will be, of course,
00:57:02finer blueprint here.
00:57:04There will be a lot of terms and conditions
00:57:05that will come in.
00:57:06It's not just about a number of 26 percent or 30 percent.
00:57:09I want to bring in a foreign affairs editor,
00:57:11Geeta Mohan.
00:57:12Also joining me, Karishma Sudhani
00:57:14from Business Today Television.
00:57:16Geeta, go ahead.
00:57:18How are you looking at this specifically
00:57:20with regard to India?
00:57:21Do you think it's a fair discounted tariff,
00:57:24as he says,
00:57:24or perhaps should have been much lower?
00:57:27Or how are you also then looking at
00:57:29the geopolitics angle of it?
00:57:30Globally, how's the world responding?
00:57:32Let's just begin with globally.
00:57:35There is a benchmark.
00:57:36There is a 10 percent tariff
00:57:39that is going to be levied on all countries.
00:57:42There are massive reactions that are coming in.
00:57:44Some are saying that this is not what friends do,
00:57:48but are not going to go ahead with reciprocity
00:57:52in terms of Australia.
00:57:54China is saying they're going to hit back.
00:57:57But what is coming,
00:57:58or the reactions that are coming from India
00:58:00are quite interesting.
00:58:01Commerce Ministry right now
00:58:03analyzing details of what's really happening
00:58:06and how it is going to impact India.
00:58:08There are four major areas,
00:58:10five to be precise,
00:58:11where these duties,
00:58:14these tariffs could be impacted.
00:58:16India does export electronics,
00:58:18gems and jewelry,
00:58:20nuclear manufacturing
00:58:24or plant materials, parts,
00:58:26and petrol.
00:58:28As also very important over here
00:58:31is the fact that there is the analysis that has happened
00:58:34and there are reports coming in
00:58:36that the Indian side thinks it's a mixed bag
00:58:40and not an absolute setback.
00:58:43They are talking about
00:58:45how there could be exemptions to certain areas.
00:58:49We have to really look into the details
00:58:51of what those exemptions could really mean.
00:58:54It's not a setback is what the Indian side is saying
00:58:57and that it is certainly a mixed bag.
00:59:00So again,
00:59:03are the sensitive areas Pooja,
00:59:05like the agro sector,
00:59:06the agricultural sector,
00:59:08going to get some relief in all this
00:59:10is something we'll have to wait and see.
00:59:12Pharma certainly is going to be impacted
00:59:14apart from the other four that I mentioned earlier.
00:59:17The areas that are going to be impacted,
00:59:20it could vary from 10% to 26%.
00:59:22Again, Commerce Ministry analyzing
00:59:25which are the areas that are going to be majorly impacted
00:59:28by this decision.
00:59:30And for India,
00:59:32India is on a time frame.
00:59:34We're looking at the BTA.
00:59:36The BTA bilateral trade agreement
00:59:38has to be signed by fall of this year
00:59:40and then maybe things will ease out for India
00:59:44and between India and the United States of America.
00:59:46Up until then,
00:59:48what is India going to do with these tariffs
00:59:51and what are the exemptions?
00:59:52Very interesting.
00:59:52We'll see how the markets also will respond
00:59:54as Geeta is telling us.
00:59:55Remember, did not make a direct mention
00:59:56of the pharma sector, the agro sector,
00:59:58but will that find in how the markets
01:00:01are going to respond,
01:00:01the uncertainty that there was
01:00:03ahead of Donald Trump's announcement.
01:00:04Stay on with me, Geeta.
01:00:06Also joining me, Karishma Sudhani
01:00:08and we have more news coming in.
01:00:09Remember, this is amid the exemptions also
01:00:11that have come.
01:00:12Karishma, I want to first bring you in here
01:00:14about what Geeta has also been suggesting,
01:00:17that he did make a lot of personal remarks,
01:00:19but there will be a lot of fine details,
01:00:21find a blueprint that will have to be looked at
01:00:24and what do we mean
01:00:25when we say the Commerce Ministry
01:00:27is analysing this 26%?
01:00:31Well, Pooja, it's been quite few days now
01:00:34that the Ministry was prepping up
01:00:36for this impact.
01:00:37Definitely, it's not been full waiver for us,
01:00:41but we are still on the safe line.
01:00:42In fact, if you go through
01:00:44the fine print of the text,
01:00:45you will see that the legal provisions
01:00:48outline specific booths that are exempt
01:00:50from this percentage-based tariffs
01:00:53and the sectors that the text here
01:00:56includes across semiconductors,
01:00:58across automobiles, pharmaceuticals,
01:01:00which are big sectors that India
01:01:03has been exporting to the US on.
01:01:05In fact, close to about 35%
01:01:08of our exports on farmers
01:01:10are let alone to the US.
01:01:11So there are existing exemptions already
01:01:14and somewhere I think India
01:01:16is going to be the silent hero in this,
01:01:21which of course will be analysed
01:01:23by the Commerce Ministry.
01:01:24To what extent are we going to get
01:01:26these exemptions?
01:01:29Tell me about this big silver lining,
01:01:31possibly when it comes to
01:01:33pharma, semiconductor,
01:01:35which in many ways India is promoting
01:01:38at a significant level.
01:01:39We are told that pharma
01:01:41and semiconductor chips
01:01:42have been exempt from the tariff.
01:01:44There's Annex 2 of the Trump order
01:01:46that's giving a certain leeway to India.
01:01:48Copper, lumber articles,
01:01:50critical minerals have also been exempt.
01:01:53As more and more details
01:01:54come in on this, Karishma,
01:01:56tell me more because that's what I think
01:01:57when the ministry is analysing,
01:01:59it will want to see all these negotiations
01:02:02up until now and the friendship
01:02:04with Prime Minister Modi.
01:02:05Has it resulted in any sort of the tariff
01:02:07relief that we were expecting?
01:02:09Pooja, it's very important for us
01:02:11to understand that these exemptions
01:02:14have already been subject
01:02:15to Section 232 tariffs
01:02:17under various past
01:02:18presidential proclamations.
01:02:21So we yet do not know that
01:02:22in what percentage or what parts
01:02:24of these sectors are we going
01:02:26to get a clear exemption.
01:02:28And even if it is a clear exemption
01:02:29or not, it's a partial exemption
01:02:31pertaining to certain intricacies
01:02:34that are involved.
01:02:34But sectors like copper,
01:02:37pharmaceutical, semiconductor,
01:02:38critical minerals, energy products
01:02:40and also auto products
01:02:43being listed on this
01:02:44can actually work out big for us.
01:02:46And we'll have to wait.
01:02:47Hey, Karishma, joining me
01:02:48also on the phone line,
01:02:50Siddharth Zorabi, our Managing Editor
01:02:52from Business Today Television.
01:02:54Siddharth, how are we looking
01:02:55at the whole tariff announcement
01:02:57this morning?
01:02:58A 26% opposed to a 52%
01:03:00that India levies,
01:03:01but exemptions that have come in.
01:03:04Tell us more about that
01:03:04because I'm curious.
01:03:06Has the Modi friendship,
01:03:08have all the negotiations
01:03:09led to any tariff
01:03:10that we feel we deserve?
01:03:13Well, there's a lot to unpack
01:03:14in that question.
01:03:15Yes.
01:03:17It's in two parts.
01:03:18First, what do these tariffs
01:03:20mean for certain sectors?
01:03:22The big headlines really at this stage
01:03:24and for India
01:03:26where we have a significant
01:03:28export to the United States
01:03:30of pharmaceuticals
01:03:31of around 15 billion dollars.
01:03:33There will be no tariffs
01:03:34on the pharmaceutical products
01:03:37from all over the world.
01:03:38India stands to be a beneficiary.
01:03:41Remember, we are called
01:03:42the pharmacy of the world
01:03:44with low cost generic medicines.
01:03:45So that has not been impacted
01:03:47and that clearly
01:03:49a relief of sorts.
01:03:52The second part,
01:03:54the other product categories
01:03:55that we have spoken about
01:03:57that were just being spoken about
01:03:58in terms of exemptions,
01:04:00that is because they are critical
01:04:01to the US economy.
01:04:02Chemiconductors,
01:04:04copper and energy
01:04:07and allied items.
01:04:10This is clearly
01:04:12some message in the magnets
01:04:14that we can decipher
01:04:16because the negative impact
01:04:19on the US economy
01:04:20on US inflation
01:04:21will be substantial
01:04:22according to experts.
01:04:23So this is basically
01:04:25an attempt to
01:04:26stave off some of that impact.
01:04:30Yes, do you think the markets
01:04:31are going to respond
01:04:33possibly favorable
01:04:34when we are talking about
01:04:35the pharma sector,
01:04:36the semiconductor?
01:04:37There's a full-on
01:04:38India semiconductor
01:04:39mission investment plan
01:04:40that India has.
01:04:42We've been pushing
01:04:43our semiconductor industry.
01:04:44Do you think this is something
01:04:45that may perhaps show
01:04:47on the positive for our country?
01:04:50Well, the real positive
01:04:53for India is that
01:04:55relative to other countries,
01:04:57remember our competition
01:04:59in the global export market
01:05:01is not with China
01:05:02or with the European Union.
01:05:04Our products compete
01:05:06with countries like Bangladesh
01:05:08or Vietnam, for example,
01:05:10and they have been hit
01:05:11with far higher tariffs.
01:05:13So our relative position
01:05:16as an export nation
01:05:18to the United States
01:05:20has been enhanced in some way.
01:05:23That is a second round
01:05:24impact of this order.
01:05:26That will not be intense, clearly,
01:05:28but we stand to be
01:05:30a beneficiary vis-a-vis this.
01:05:32On some of the product categories,
01:05:34on semiconductors, for example,
01:05:36we don't have a manufacturing base.
01:05:40Really, it is many years
01:05:41in the making
01:05:42and will take several years
01:05:44to take off.
01:05:45But there are multiple commodities
01:05:47on which we have a fairly
01:05:49recent global export share
01:05:51and pharmaceuticals
01:05:52being just one example.
01:05:54And therefore, I believe
01:05:55our market reaction
01:05:56and the markets will open
01:05:58in just a bit from now
01:06:00will take into account
01:06:01the fine print.
01:06:02The global reaction,
01:06:03including the reaction
01:06:04in the U.S. market,
01:06:05remember this announcement
01:06:07came after U.S. market setbacks
01:06:09have been substantially negative
01:06:11because the big headline is
01:06:13that for the short term,
01:06:15the U.S. economy will face
01:06:17a lot of pain.
01:06:18Bangladesh,
01:06:19like you were mentioning,
01:06:20will now be levied 37 percent.
01:06:23Sri Lanka gets about 44 percent
01:06:25and they were also
01:06:26levying a much higher charge.
01:06:27So that's the tariff
01:06:29that will be imposed
01:06:30on these neighbor nations.
01:06:31Tell me this, Siddharth,
01:06:33do you believe
01:06:34that the association
01:06:36with Prime Minister Modi,
01:06:37and he mentioned it,
01:06:38Donald Trump,
01:06:39taking a moment out
01:06:40from the whole chart optics,
01:06:42mentioned that Prime Minister
01:06:43Modi is a friend,
01:06:44India has been friend,
01:06:45but they've not treated
01:06:46the USA right
01:06:47when it comes to tariff.
01:06:48Do you believe that in some way
01:06:50this sort of bonhomie
01:06:51has resulted in Donald Trump
01:06:54levying 26 percent,
01:06:55could have been higher?
01:06:57Well, it's very clear
01:06:59in the run up to this
01:07:00and this process
01:07:01has been underway
01:07:02for several months.
01:07:04India has been among
01:07:06the few major economies
01:07:08in the world
01:07:09that has not only extended
01:07:11a hand of friendship
01:07:12to the United States
01:07:13on the matter,
01:07:13but has demonstrated
01:07:15clear willingness
01:07:16to engage with the United States.
01:07:18There's been a meeting
01:07:19at the level of the principles
01:07:20of the two nations.
01:07:21We have had commerce
01:07:22ministers meeting.
01:07:23We had a very large,
01:07:24powerful delegation
01:07:25from the United States
01:07:26just this last week
01:07:27spending four to five days
01:07:29in the national capital.
01:07:31What is going to happen?
01:07:32It is very clear
01:07:33that this tariff announcement
01:07:35will further spur efforts
01:07:38from the Indian side
01:07:39and obviously
01:07:40from the United States side
01:07:41for a bilateral investment treaty.
01:07:44That is going to get
01:07:45a further impetus
01:07:46because clearly
01:07:47for the government of India,
01:07:49a substantial part of our exports
01:07:53go to the United States
01:07:55somewhere around
01:07:5588 billion dollars and more.
01:07:58We want to protect that.
01:07:59So, Siddharth,
01:08:00I want you to elaborate on that
01:08:02because that would be
01:08:03my final question
01:08:04that we've been talking
01:08:05about imports
01:08:06and how it would impact India,
01:08:08but I'm also very curious
01:08:09to see how the whole
01:08:11export industry works.
01:08:12In many ways,
01:08:12it's all interconnected,
01:08:14isn't it?
01:08:16Absolutely.
01:08:16And to your earlier point,
01:08:19it's very clear that
01:08:24you know,
01:08:24Modi nominates
01:08:25and Modi diplomacy
01:08:27has demonstrated
01:08:28the extreme flexibility.
01:08:30For the past 10, 11 years,
01:08:33India has followed a policy
01:08:35of making India
01:08:37to import substitutions.
01:08:38Let's take laptops
01:08:40as just one example.
01:08:41We decided to restrict
01:08:42imports of laptops
01:08:44in order to spur
01:08:45local manufacturing,
01:08:46local assembly of laptops.
01:08:48Now that has had to change
01:08:50and I must say that
01:08:50within the last three, four months,
01:08:52we have seen a marked change
01:08:54in India's approach
01:08:55to global trade engagement.
01:08:58We currently have
01:08:59half a dozen
01:09:00and more conversations
01:09:02for bilateral trade treaties,
01:09:05including with the United Kingdom,
01:09:07the United States,
01:09:09Europe,
01:09:10just this other day,
01:09:11Chile was here.
01:09:11So practically,
01:09:12anybody who has
01:09:14a significant interest
01:09:15in the global economy
01:09:16is talking to India
01:09:18and India has a reciprocal interest.
01:09:19This is markedly different
01:09:21from our strategy
01:09:22that we have seen previously.
01:09:23So the flexibility in response
01:09:25and to your question
01:09:26on Modi diplomacy,
01:09:28absolutely,
01:09:28I think that's been a clear standout.
01:09:31The personal chemistry
01:09:32has helped us,
01:09:34you know,
01:09:35perhaps escape
01:09:36far more serious consequences.
01:09:38One quick final point,
01:09:39you know,
01:09:39there is a fundamental issue
01:09:41with the way US tariffs
01:09:43are being calculated,
01:09:45that chart,
01:09:46viral chart that President Trump showed.
01:09:49If clubs tariffed with non-tariffs,
01:09:51it also includes GST
01:09:53and value-added tax.
01:09:54You know,
01:09:54many communists are wondering
01:09:56how did this match happen?
01:09:58Perhaps this is some American
01:10:01system of mathematics
01:10:03that the nation which invented
01:10:05the zero
01:10:06still has to grapple with today.
01:10:08Very interesting.
01:10:09Thank you so much,
01:10:10Siddharth Zerabi
01:10:10telling us all about
01:10:12that announcement,
01:10:13the perspective
01:10:14and the repercussions of it
01:10:15world over.
01:10:16Thank you very much, Siddharth.
01:10:17I want to bring in big news coming in,
01:10:19responses coming in
01:10:20from other countries as well,
01:10:21especially if charges have been
01:10:23levied on them
01:10:24on a higher margin.
01:10:25China threatening to retaliate
01:10:28on Trump tariff
01:10:29will take resolute countermeasures
01:10:32urging the United States of America
01:10:34to revoke the unilateral measures
01:10:36we want America to resolve,
01:10:38China says,
01:10:39differences with dialogue.
01:10:41China, remember,
01:10:41levies about 67% of tariffs
01:10:44charged to the USA.
01:10:46In turn,
01:10:46USA's discounted reciprocal tariff
01:10:49as Donald Trump has called it
01:10:51is 34%.
01:10:53It's fairly higher
01:10:54compared to India
01:10:55and some other nations.
01:10:56China says
01:10:57we will take resolute countermeasures
01:10:59urging America to revoke
01:11:01unilateral measures
01:11:02wants the USA to resolve
01:11:03differences via dialogue.
01:11:04I want to immediately bring in
01:11:06our guests and panelists
01:11:08this morning coming in.
01:11:10Ashok Sajjanhar,
01:11:11former diplomat,
01:11:12joining me as well.
01:11:14Daniel Block,
01:11:14Senior Editor,
01:11:15Foreign Affairs Magazine
01:11:16and Contributing Editor,
01:11:17The Washington Daily.
01:11:19Thank you so much, gentlemen,
01:11:20for joining us this morning
01:11:21on The First Up.
01:11:22I want to take the first question
01:11:24to Daniel Block on that.
01:11:25How do you view
01:11:27the kind of announcements
01:11:28that have come in,
01:11:30especially when it comes to now
01:11:31responses of other countries as well?
01:11:35All right, stay on with me.
01:11:46I'm also joined by Foreign Affairs
01:11:47Editor, Geeta Mohan.
01:11:48Geeta, quickly over to you on this.
01:11:50So as as countries
01:11:51and the experts
01:11:52and the leaders are waking up,
01:11:53they're also realizing what happened.
01:11:55And how is China's response?
01:11:57Do you think will cater?
01:11:58They're already
01:11:59already threatened earlier as well.
01:12:01Well, China's response
01:12:03is on expected lines.
01:12:05China was going to react very strongly.
01:12:08While there are exemptions
01:12:09that have been given
01:12:09to certain countries,
01:12:10including India,
01:12:11particularly on pharma sector,
01:12:13China couldn't have expected
01:12:15that for for it for itself.
01:12:17And that's why they are looking at
01:12:20at responding to these measures,
01:12:24to these reciprocal tariffs.
01:12:26Now we'll have to wait and see
01:12:27what China really does,
01:12:28because what China does
01:12:30will impact U.S. markets
01:12:31is also global markets.
01:12:33China has already said
01:12:34that a trade war,
01:12:36that nobody is a winner
01:12:37in a trade war.
01:12:38And this is not going
01:12:39to help America's case.
01:12:42America will also be waking up
01:12:44to how the markets are going to react
01:12:45to these reciprocal tariffs.
01:12:47Yesterday itself, we saw
01:12:50we saw a bit of a decline
01:12:52in the markets,
01:12:53which clearly shows
01:12:55that Trump's reciprocal tariffs
01:12:56are going to impact
01:12:58global markets, Pooja.
01:12:59But for now, China coming out
01:13:01with a very strong statement.
01:13:03We'll have to wait and see
01:13:03what those decisions by Beijing
01:13:06are going to look like
01:13:07in terms of responding
01:13:09to these reciprocal tariffs.
01:13:11But more importantly,
01:13:12there are other countries
01:13:13that are also coming out.
01:13:14European Union has been
01:13:16very strongly advocating
01:13:18against a trade war with EU
01:13:21and also reminding the U.S.
01:13:23that this certainly is going to impact
01:13:26not just European Union markets,
01:13:28but is also American markets.
01:13:30So again, we have to wait and see
01:13:32what they're really going to do.
01:13:33The world of geopolitics
01:13:34in many ways as well, Geeta.
01:13:36Yes, like you're telling us,
01:13:37because the countries will look at
01:13:38not just this as a trade war,
01:13:40but more as who are the alliance partners,
01:13:43who have got the real relief.
01:13:44For now, a big silver lining
01:13:46when it comes to India
01:13:47in the sense that
01:13:48pharma and semiconductor chips
01:13:49have been exempt from the tariff.
01:13:51That's a big news coming in.
01:13:52It's the annex two,
01:13:53the final blueprint of the Trump order
01:13:55that has given a key leeway to India.
01:13:58What is that leeway?
01:13:59Copper, lumber articles,
01:14:02critical minerals have been exempt.
01:14:03So there are certain materials
01:14:06that are exported
01:14:07to the United States of America.
01:14:08One of our big trading partners
01:14:10has decided to give us exemption on that.
01:14:13I want to bring in our guests on that.
01:14:16Daniel Block, if you can hear me
01:14:17as a senior editor of the
01:14:19Foreign Affairs Magazine,
01:14:20contributing editor of the Washington Daily.
01:14:22You tell me about how do you look at,
01:14:25especially when we are talking about
01:14:28so to say a discounted tariff.
01:14:30Do you think he's looking at
01:14:31who are the allies,
01:14:33who he does not want to trade war with?
01:14:37No, there's actually no evidence
01:14:39or reason to think at all that he's
01:14:42determining between countries
01:14:43which ones he wants to be friends with
01:14:45or which ones he doesn't.
01:14:46These exemptions seem to be determined
01:14:48by what goods he wants it to be cheaper
01:14:51for the United States to import,
01:14:53what different groups in the United States
01:14:55have managed to secure concessions.
01:14:57In terms of the other countries,
01:14:59I mean, he spelled out his logic,
01:15:01the flat 10% tariff on all products.
01:15:03And then for a certain set of countries,
01:15:05including India,
01:15:07they've calculated what they consider to be
01:15:10the tariff on the United States.
01:15:12It's important to note that their calculations
01:15:14are not based in reality.
01:15:16But then across the board for India,
01:15:18for China, for the European Union,
01:15:20they've slashed that in half
01:15:21and they said that's what the tariff is going to be.
01:15:23So it's incredibly kind of
01:15:24astonishingly impersonal.
01:15:26There's really no distinguishing
01:15:27between friend and foe.
01:15:29Look at how he's imposed high tariffs
01:15:32on Asian countries in many ways,
01:15:33when we're looking at the manufacturing sector
01:15:36or sectors where America
01:15:39has been trying to ally to counter China.
01:15:41And instead, how do you look at India specifically?
01:15:46A 26% tariff lower compared to China,
01:15:50but experts say even that is higher.
01:15:54Yeah, I mean, it's lower compared to China,
01:15:56but it's higher compared to many other countries.
01:15:58It's higher compared to the European Union.
01:16:02It's higher.
01:16:03I don't know exactly where it falls on the table.
01:16:05I haven't looked at it.
01:16:07I'm not looking at it right now,
01:16:08but there doesn't seem to be any real discount
01:16:12for India relative to other states.
01:16:14The exemptions are across the board for all countries.
01:16:17The rates are, again,
01:16:18they've calculated what they think
01:16:19the tariffs are on the United States.
01:16:21I want to emphasize again,
01:16:22these calculations are false,
01:16:25but they are consistent.
01:16:26Why do you say that?
01:16:27You want to elaborate on that?
01:16:28Yeah, yeah, sure.
01:16:29I'm happy to.
01:16:30So there is an amount that other countries
01:16:34have tariffs on products coming from the United States,
01:16:36and that varies from country to country,
01:16:38but they didn't just look at that.
01:16:39What they did, or so they claim,
01:16:42is that they added to that,
01:16:44they calculated the rate of non-tariff trade barriers.
01:16:48But what they really did, it looks like,
01:16:49and we're still trying to figure out exactly how it worked,
01:16:52is they took the US trade deficit with other countries,
01:16:55and then they just simply divided that
01:16:57by the number of exports
01:16:58that that country makes to the United States,
01:17:01and they determined that
01:17:02that was what the effective tariff was on the United States.
01:17:06And so that's the logic that it seems like they used
01:17:09in order to get the numbers
01:17:11that they then divided in half
01:17:12in order to determine what the tariff
01:17:14would be on other countries.
01:17:16Interesting.
01:17:16As India is also analyzing,
01:17:18I bring in Ashok Sajjanar, a former diplomat.
01:17:21With the wide experience that you've had
01:17:22with the United States of America,
01:17:24Ashok Sajjanar, you tell me,
01:17:26how do you look at,
01:17:27especially the tariff on India?
01:17:28Because this was one announcement,
01:17:29I'm sure, that the world was watching.
01:17:32India, more so because of the negotiations
01:17:34that we have had with the American officials
01:17:36and administration of the past few months.
01:17:40Yeah, absolutely, Pooja.
01:17:42I think it's the tariffs that have been announced.
01:17:46They are not unexpected.
01:17:49You know, it was known
01:17:51that there would be some tariffs
01:17:52because I think Mr. Trump also wishes
01:17:55to project himself as a strong player,
01:17:58as a strong leader who sort of,
01:17:59you know, takes action,
01:18:01you know, on whatever he announces.
01:18:04So, you know, that's what he wanted to say,
01:18:07what he wanted to demonstrate.
01:18:08So that is number one,
01:18:10even as far as India is concerned
01:18:11and the world is concerned.
01:18:13So not unexpected,
01:18:15but I don't think totally uncalled for,
01:18:19because, you know,
01:18:20the way in which the tariffs
01:18:22have been calculated,
01:18:24it is not clear at all.
01:18:26It is totally non-transparent system.
01:18:28And, you know, if the United States
01:18:30is saying that it's not only tariffs
01:18:32that India charges
01:18:34or the other countries charge,
01:18:35but also the non-tariff barriers,
01:18:37then the United States itself
01:18:39has so many non-tariff barriers
01:18:41against exports from a number of countries.
01:18:45And, you know, whether it is agriculture
01:18:47in terms of the subsidies that they provide
01:18:50to agricultural products, et cetera,
01:18:52that has not been factored in.
01:18:54He just says we charge 2.4% or something,
01:18:58we don't charge anything.
01:18:59What about the non-tariff barriers
01:19:00that the United States has?
01:19:03So, you know, it is unilateral
01:19:07in what has been done.
01:19:08And, you know, all his good words
01:19:12that Prime Minister Modi is a good friend,
01:19:14this, that and the other,
01:19:15I don't think that there has been
01:19:18any relevance of that
01:19:20in terms of whatever tariffs
01:19:23have been imposed.
01:19:24And let me also mention, you know,
01:19:26these are all items,
01:19:28pharma, critical minerals,
01:19:31copper, semiconductors.
01:19:33These are items
01:19:34that the United States needs
01:19:36and that the United States needs
01:19:38at reasonable prices.
01:19:41Now, India is not an exporter
01:19:42of semiconductor.
01:19:43How does it help me?
01:19:44You know, he might have put
01:19:45that aircrafts are at 0% duty
01:19:48on exports from India to the United States.
01:19:51How does it help me?
01:19:52Do you feel he has spoken
01:19:54more as a businessman
01:19:55than a politician in this regard?
01:19:59Let me put it this way.
01:20:00I think he has been able
01:20:04to get the whole world against him.
01:20:07He's been able to get even,
01:20:10you know, the adversaries.
01:20:12For instance, you know,
01:20:13China reaching out to India,
01:20:14saying that, you know,
01:20:15we are going to increase
01:20:17exports from India to China.
01:20:19You know, I mean,
01:20:20this is having an impact there.
01:20:22You look at China, Japan,
01:20:25South Korea coming together,
01:20:27saying that, you know,
01:20:28we are going to deal
01:20:29with Trump's tariffs together,
01:20:31you know, on all these things.
01:20:33So he is getting the whole world
01:20:36against him.
01:20:37And let us put it this way,
01:20:38you know, for the consideration
01:20:40of your viewers,
01:20:41you know, the per capita GDP
01:20:43of the United States is $88,000.
01:20:47He is saying we are going
01:20:48to make America very rich.
01:20:50It might become $100,000 or whatever.
01:20:53At what cost?
01:20:54At what expense?
01:20:56Before I listen to what
01:20:57Donald Trump is saying,
01:20:58adding to what you are saying here,
01:21:00I want to ask you one more question.
01:21:02I had a panelist
01:21:03in the previous discussion
01:21:05who, in fact, said a professor
01:21:07from the Department of Economics
01:21:09in American University,
01:21:10he said, you're looking
01:21:11to counter China
01:21:13and then you levy such a tariff
01:21:15on India, which is being
01:21:17seen as an ally.
01:21:18Why would you do that?
01:21:20How do you then counter China
01:21:21if you levy a high charge
01:21:22on India too?
01:21:23What would you say to that?
01:21:25No, absolutely.
01:21:26I fully agree with that.
01:21:27And it's, you know, not only India,
01:21:29meaning if you look
01:21:29at the Indo-Pacific,
01:21:31you see that you are the one,
01:21:33Trump was the one who in 2017
01:21:36revived, reincarnated the quad.
01:21:39And you are imposing tariffs
01:21:42against Australia,
01:21:43against Japan, against India.
01:21:45All those who are going
01:21:47to stand with you
01:21:48in terms of providing,
01:21:49you know, what you say,
01:21:50that I want a free and open,
01:21:52prosperous, stable Indo-Pacific.
01:21:55I want freedom of navigation.
01:21:57You need to strengthen
01:21:59your strategic partnership
01:22:01with these countries.
01:22:02What is the message
01:22:03that you are sending
01:22:04out to these countries?
01:22:05You know, my commerce ministry,
01:22:07India's commerce ministry
01:22:08might say it is, you know,
01:22:10we are analyzing,
01:22:11it's not all bad,
01:22:12this, that and the other.
01:22:13This is one way of putting at it
01:22:15so that, you know,
01:22:16our bilateral relations
01:22:18do not get, you know,
01:22:19And alarm bells do not go off,
01:22:21possibly, within the country as well.
01:22:23Gentlemen, please stay on with me.
01:22:25If you're tuning in this morning,
01:22:27what did Donald Trump say
01:22:28past midnight in this announcement
01:22:30that the world clearly
01:22:31was tuned into?
01:22:33The reciprocal tariff,
01:22:34he says these are discounted tariffs.
01:22:37Let's listen in to some of the excerpts,
01:22:38especially what he said about India.
01:22:41India, very, very tough,
01:22:43very, very tough.
01:22:45The prime minister just left
01:22:47and he's a great friend of mine.
01:22:49But I said, you're a friend of mine,
01:22:50but you're not treating us right.
01:22:53They charge us 52%.
01:22:54You have to understand,
01:22:55we charge them almost nothing
01:22:56for years and years.
01:22:58The United States charges
01:23:00other countries only a 2.4 tariff
01:23:03on motorcycles.
01:23:05Meanwhile, Thailand and others
01:23:09are charging much higher prices,
01:23:10like 60%.
01:23:12India charges 70%.
01:23:14Vietnam charges 75%.
01:23:16And others are even higher than that.
01:23:18Likewise, until today,
01:23:20the United States has for decades
01:23:22charged a 2.5 tariff.
01:23:25Think of that 2.5%
01:23:28on foreign made automobiles.
01:23:30The European Union charges us
01:23:32more than 10% tariffs,
01:23:35and they have 20% VATs,
01:23:37much, much higher.
01:23:39India charges 70%.
01:23:40And perhaps worst of all
01:23:42are the non-monetary restrictions
01:23:44imposed by South Korea, Japan,
01:23:46and very many other nations.
01:23:48As a result of these colossal trade barriers,
01:23:5281% of the cars in South Korea
01:23:55are made in South Korea.
01:23:5794% of the cars in Japan
01:23:59are made in Japan.
01:24:01Toyota sells 1 million
01:24:03foreign made automobiles
01:24:05into the United States,
01:24:06and General Motors sells almost none.
01:24:09Ford sells very little.
01:24:11None of our companies are allowed
01:24:13to go into other countries.
01:24:17Daniel, I bring you in here
01:24:18while you're talking about
01:24:19all these countries.
01:24:20Let's not forget Mexico and Canada,
01:24:22because not only neighbor nations,
01:24:23these were the two countries
01:24:24there was definitely likely
01:24:26to be a trade war,
01:24:27but there was no mention
01:24:28of either of these nations.
01:24:30Do you think this is something
01:24:31that perhaps in the future,
01:24:33they'll want to negotiate more?
01:24:34And there are, of course,
01:24:35certain terms and conditions
01:24:36that for now gives them
01:24:38a certain exempt.
01:24:40Yeah, I'll admit,
01:24:41I am perplexed to see that
01:24:44Canada and Mexico
01:24:46were not on the list.
01:24:48Now it's possible they are going
01:24:49to be subject to that 10% flat rate.
01:24:53We don't know yet.
01:24:55So we're going to have to wait
01:24:56and see about that.
01:24:57But if there are any two countries
01:24:58that appear to have gotten
01:24:59some preferential treatment,
01:25:01it would be those two.
01:25:02And if that is the case,
01:25:03if they are getting
01:25:04some preferential treatment,
01:25:06it's not hard to see why.
01:25:07I mean, Canada is the United States'
01:25:09largest trading partner.
01:25:11And so it's quite possible
01:25:13that Trump is looking for some ways
01:25:16to avoid large price increases
01:25:18in the United States
01:25:19and exempting the United States
01:25:22as two neighbors
01:25:22would be one way to do that.
01:25:24But we're going to have to wait
01:25:24and see why they were left out,
01:25:26to what extent they were left out.
01:25:28It's still quite uncertain.
01:25:31Do you look at the internal sentiment
01:25:34in America right now?
01:25:35Do you think many would be happy
01:25:37that he's taken what appears to be
01:25:39a national interest view
01:25:40or the Democrats will come forward?
01:25:42They'll have their own version to this.
01:25:45They had been warning against
01:25:46such a reciprocal tariff threat.
01:25:48So how do you think eventually
01:25:49when Trump says,
01:25:50I'm working for American interests?
01:25:54My guess is that this is going to prove
01:25:55to be quite unpopular.
01:25:57Obviously, we don't have polls yet
01:25:59that look at how Americans
01:26:00are reacting to this.
01:26:02That will come.
01:26:03But polling suggests that Americans
01:26:04are generally supportive of free trade.
01:26:07And this is obviously in many ways
01:26:08the opposite of free trade.
01:26:10So if those polls are true,
01:26:11you would expect this to be unpopular.
01:26:14Different interest groups
01:26:15have come out against it.
01:26:16Manufacturing associations, economists,
01:26:19the entire Democratic Party,
01:26:20even some members of the Republican Party
01:26:22appear to be skeptical about this.
01:26:25And wouldn't it benefit a higher tax
01:26:26eventually reviving the economy for America?
01:26:30In the long term, it's hard to say.
01:26:32But most economists seem to think
01:26:34the answer is no.
01:26:35And in the short term,
01:26:37it seems like it will mostly cause pain
01:26:39because prices will rise.
01:26:40Companies will pass the prices,
01:26:42the increased costs of manufacturing
01:26:44because it's harder to import goods
01:26:46onto consumers.
01:26:48And so you'll have more inflation.
01:26:51Interesting.
01:26:52Ambassador Sajjanhar,
01:26:53how do you look at India's
01:26:55perspective and response right now?
01:26:57More wait and watch, negotiate, talk
01:27:00compared to Canada, China, even Mexico?
01:27:03Literally threatening in a lot of ways.
01:27:05We'll do the counter.
01:27:06Look how we respond to this.
01:27:08Do you think India should have
01:27:09gone the same way?
01:27:12Okay, let me put it this way.
01:27:13You know, I have negotiated
01:27:15for many, many years in the WTO
01:27:16and in Geneva on the, you know,
01:27:20GATT also, Euroground negotiations,
01:27:22Doha Rounding, etc.
01:27:24You know, I think the manner in which
01:27:25and also, you know, the manner in which
01:27:27India responded in Trump 1.0
01:27:30when we had this 10% tariffs
01:27:32on aluminium and steel.
01:27:35And also we were, you know,
01:27:36GSP was taken away from us.
01:27:39So the manner which I think
01:27:41we will respond is, you know,
01:27:44two or three parallel tracks.
01:27:46Number one, what has been mentioned
01:27:47by the Ministry of Commerce,
01:27:49that we are going to look at it.
01:27:50We are going to examine it.
01:27:52We are going to see and then try
01:27:54to highlight some of the positives
01:27:57that we might think that might appear
01:27:59so that, you know, you blunt
01:28:01the impact of that.
01:28:03The second is, we will say,
01:28:05we are going to sort of, you know,
01:28:06take it to the WTO,
01:28:08although at the moment WTO
01:28:10is a toothless sort of an instrument
01:28:14because, you know,
01:28:15the appellate body is not working.
01:28:18Courtesy, President Donald Trump
01:28:20in 2019 when he sort of, you know,
01:28:23did not agree to designate anyone
01:28:25to go to the appellate body.
01:28:26So it is not really working.
01:28:28Third is, we keep, we announced
01:28:31that we are going to retaliate you
01:28:33because, you know,
01:28:34domestic sentiment is also important
01:28:36in that context.
01:28:38And of course, we will see that
01:28:39as far as the opposition is concerned,
01:28:41they are going to go for the jugular
01:28:44as far as the BJP is concerned,
01:28:46the ruling NDA is concerned,
01:28:48saying that, you know,
01:28:49you have been, you know,
01:28:51touting your close relations
01:28:53with the President Trump
01:28:55that has not helped us in any way.
01:28:58So, you know, keep a list
01:29:00of, announce a list of items
01:29:02that we are going to retaliate.
01:29:04We are not going to take it lying down,
01:29:06you know, at some level.
01:29:07And you remember that is also
01:29:09what was done in Trump 1.0.
01:29:11Although we did, ultimately,
01:29:13did not use that.
01:29:15But I have to say, Ambassador Sajjanar
01:29:17and I guess Daniel Block
01:29:17will also agree to it.
01:29:18I don't think the world has seen
01:29:20a president from the United States
01:29:22of America like this one
01:29:23in a long time.
01:29:23Even 1.0 version was very different
01:29:26from what we see Donald Trump
01:29:28as in 2.0 administration.
01:29:30So, it remains to be seen
01:29:31how the world progresses.
01:29:32Remember, the US is still
01:29:33called the superpower.
01:29:34It defines geopolitics often
01:29:36and he wants to end the wars,
01:29:38he wants to put tariffs,
01:29:39a full-on agenda plan.
01:29:41How will the world shape up
01:29:42with these decisions?