Former United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday called India a “very big abuser” of the trade relationship with his country and said he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, reported Reuters.
Trump is the Republican Party’s presidential candidate this year. He was the president of the United States between 2017 and 2021.
The Republican leader, despite criticising India on its trade ties with the US, called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “fantastic” leader. “He happens to be coming to meet me next week,” Trump added.
The US presidential candidate made the statement at a campaign rally in Flint, Michigan. He, however, did not elaborate on his criticism of trade ties with India, or give any details about the meeting with the Indian prime minister.
Modi is scheduled to visit the United States from September 21 to 23. He will take part in the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit that US President Joe Biden will host in Wilmington, Delaware.
The prime minister will also speak at the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The external affairs ministry has so far not confirmed if Modi would meet Trump during his US visit.
Trump has voiced concerns about India’s trade ties with the US on several occasions in the past as well.
In August last year, he claimed that India imposes excessively high tax rates on American products, and said that he would introduce reciprocal taxes if he were to come to power in 2024.
In March 2019 too, Trump called for a reciprocal tax on Indian goods, again citing the export of Harley Davidson motorbikes as an example.
Three months later, the US terminated the designation of India as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences Programme, claiming that India had not assured the US that it would “provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets”. Trump was the president of the United States at the time.
Under the programme, certain products can enter the US duty-free if beneficiary developing countries meet the eligibility criteria established by its Congress.
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