New Delhi [India], July 31 (ANI): Congress and other opposition leaders on Wednesday took jibes at the Modi government over Donald Trump announcing a 25 per cent tariff and an extra penalty on Indian goods, but also slammed the US President’s move, terming it unfortunate.
They said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made “grave miscalculation of trying to appease Trump”. The leaders said that the move will impact Indian exports but the government should act firmly.
The BJP leaders expressed confidence that the government will appropriately deal with the situation.
BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal termed Trump’s move “unfortunate”. “Certainly, the Centre will take cognisance of it. We have to wait and watch how the Government of India reacts to it. In my personal opinion, it is unfortunate,” he said.
West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya, MP, said India is the largest democracy with a population of 140 crore and trade deals cannot be forced under pressure.
He said the US had earlier put on hold the tariff decision. Trump, who thinks that he can force any deal through pressure, should know that this is not a banana republic… If America and its allies separate themselves from such a huge market, the results will be worth watching,” Bhattacharya said.
BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi said there is no reason for India to be afraid.
“India is a huge market, whose export has expanded exponentially, which will have a reciprocal effect… Under the guidance of PM Modi, we will face this with our tactics…”.
On Congress leaders taunting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his friendship with Trump, Sarangi said he will never compromise the country’s interest.
“There is a limit to Modi-Trump friendship and PM Modi will never compromise with the nation’s welfare… He even denied America’s dominance on major issues based on support… The opposition has no issues to raise and they like to believe Pakistani elements more than the nation,” he said.
BJP leader Sanjay Jaiswal said when India conducted the nuclear tests with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister, the US had imposed sanctions but the situation improved.
“When Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji conducted the nuclear explosion, the US had done the same thing. After that, such immense support was received from non-Indian people that the rate of dollar fell. There is no need for a third country to comment on what kind of relations we maintain with which country… We want to maintain good relations with every country and will continue to do so in the future,” he said.
Congress leaders said Trump’s decision is unfortunate and also a failure of India’s foreign policy.
In an interview with ANI, party leader Jairam Ramesh also attacked the Modi government, saying the praise of the US President has had no effect and “taareef hi tareef mein tariff lag gaya”.
He said it was also a setback for PM Modi and “there were no gains from Howdy Modi and Namaste Trump” events.
“This is a huge setback to PM Modi and India…Taareef hi tareef mein tariff lag gaya…There were no gains from Howdy Modi and Namaste Trump..President Trump has stated 30 times that he halted Operation Sindoor…So what did we get from this (India-US) friendship? The country is still questioning why Operation Sindoor was suddenly stopped..This is a huge setback for our country, our economy and the PM,” Jairam Ramesh told ANI.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said PM Modi has made a “grave miscalculation” of trying to appease United States President Trump.
“After the US has slapped India with 25 per cent tariffs, will the PM now grow a spine and stand up to Trump? By staying silent on Trump’s ceasefire statements and his warmth towards Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, PM Modi made the grave miscalculation of trying to appease Trump in the hope that India would receive a favourable trade deal,” Venugopal posted on X.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said the decision will impact India’s economy, exports, production and in turn, jobs and employment.
“Rahul Gandhi had already warned about this… This is going to impact our economy, exports, production and in turn, our jobs and employment. We export pharmaceuticals to the US, and with the 25% tariff, they will become expensive, resulting in decreased demand, subsequently leading to lower production and employment. This is a result of our failed foreign policy… You (ruling) gave the slogan of ‘Abki baar Trump Sarkar’, but he sent our people shackled, said 30 times that he declared a ceasefire… What answer does PM Modi have on this? The government must have prepared in some way for this; all the sectors will be affected by it…”
Party leader Digvijaya Singh said Trump uses tariffs as a weapon and he is using it globally, against all countries.
“PM Modi needs to understand that India has been hit with the highest tariffs in all the ASEAN countries. He should talk about it with his ‘friend”
Congress leader Pawan Khera said the government’s foreign policy has not produced results.
“What is left to say after this? Till yesterday, we were hopeful that the Prime Minister will show some courage and say that Trump has been lying about the ceasefire. We thought maybe he is afraid of the trade deal and that is why he is not saying anything. Now the trade deal has also been exposed… What kind of foreign policy is this?…”
Congress MP Tariq Anwar said that Trump’s move could also impact bilateral ties with the United States.
“This is a failure of our foreign policy…”
Congress MP Manickam Tagore said it is a failure of the Modi government.
“We can see from yesterday itself and LoP Rahul Gandhi has been warning of the same kind of things. He has been saying that the way we have been dealing with our foreign policy, we have fumbled it, and the EAM has failed it… We should not surrender before the Americans on their terms,” Tagore said.
Congress MP Rajiv Shukla said it is “really wrong step” by the US. “The government considers Trump a friend, but he has actually slapped us; Indian businessmen will suffer due to this. We will raise all issues in Parliament…When there is so much friendship (between India and US) then why is Donald Trump troubling India?…”
Congress MP Mallu Ravi said India should properly answer Trump. “It is like he is threatening India. Congress is bothered about threats coming from Donald Trump. We should properly answer him…”
Party MP Saptagiri Ulaka said the government should hold discussions.
“This is sad news. I think we will suffer due to this…The government should hold a discussion on this…”
Congress MP Ujjwal Raman Singh said people of India will not bow down before America…”We have been saying that India’s foreign policy has failed, and now we are seeing our economic policy also failing,” he said.
Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said Modi government’s our foreign policy is weak. “The weakness of your (Indian government) foreign policy has been seen worldwide, when the India-Pakistan war was ongoing and Operation Sindoor was underway… Trump repeatedly said that he stopped the India-Pakistan war, which happened because of their weak foreign policy…”
CPI(M) MP Dr John Brittas said the government should stand up to United States over the move.
“Donald Trump has ditched this country… Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to the US to campaign for him and what did we get in return? It is a huge tragedy… The government of India should stand up to such nonsense… Donald Trump is questioning the sovereignty of India by mentioning that we bought arms from Russia… Trump wants India to be a colony of the US, which is why the opposition asks to call out his bluff…”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, said that it is unfortunate that the decision has been announced when the two countries were negotiating a trade deal.
“Yesterday PM Narendra Modi himself said that there was no third-party interference within 10 hours of that, President Trump reiterated his involvement twice. A red line needs to be drawn… When the trade deal is ongoing and he has announced trade tariffs in these words. It is unfortunate. We were all expecting PM Narendra Modi to give a reply in the Rajya Sabha today but instead the Home Minister is speaking…”
AAP MP Sanjay Singh said the government should take a bold stand.
“He (Trump) is insulting India every day, apart from tariff threats; he has even threatened Apple against manufacturing iPhones in India. He has even gone on to say that he loves Pakistan and India should think about it. PM Narendra Modi should strongly oppose this move and make his next step clear.”
Party MP Ashok Kumar Mittal expressed disappointment over Trump’s decision.
“We were hoping that America would be our good friend and would not impose such a tariff on products exported from India to America. This is really very disappointing. Apart from the 25% tariff, there are also some punitive provisions… This will be disappointing for our business community and our export community… I hope they will review it and take it back and bring it to the previous level,” he said.
India on Wednesday said that it has taken note of a statement by the US President on bilateral trade and is studying its implications.
A statement by Commerce and Industry Ministry said that India and the US have been engaged in negotiations on concluding a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement over the last few months.
“We remain committed to that objective,” the statement said.
It said the Government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs.
“The Government will take all steps necessary to secure our national interest, as has been the case with other trade agreements including the latest Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the UK,” the statement said.
US President Donald Trump today, in a social media post on his Truth Social Account, announced 25 per cent tariffs on India starting August 1.
“Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country. Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE – ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST 1st. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!”, Trump posted.
Trump’s announcement came two days ahead of the impending US tariff deadline of August 1 amid hopes of an interim India-US trade that would have otherwise helped avoid elevated tariffs.
Over the past few months, India and the US have been negotiating for an interim trade deal, but there were some reservations from the Indian side on the US demand for opening up the agricultural and dairy sectors for the US. Agriculture and dairy are critical for India as these two sectors provide livelihood opportunities to a large section of its people.
India reportedly faces US demands, including allowing remanufactured goods, opening up agriculture and dairy, accepting genetically modified (GM) feed, and adopting US rules on digital trade and product standards . (ANI)
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