Reciprocal tariffs will devastate India, what is government doing about it, asks Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the reciprocal tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump will "completely devastate" India and asked what the central government is doing to counter the impact of the US trade retaliation.

Speaking in Lok Sabha, the leader of opposition also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

"There should be status quo, and we should get our land back. It has also come to my knowledge that the Prime Minister and President have written to Chinese. We are finding this out not from our own people but from the Chinese ambassador who is telling this ... On the other side, our ally (US) has decided to levy tariffs on us. This will completely devastate us," he said.

Rahul further asked what the Modi government is doing about "our land and what will you do on the issue of tariffs."

The Rae Bareli MP's remarks come hours after Trump announced sweeping retaliatory tariffs against countries, including India.

Earlier, Congress MP Manish Tewari slammed the government for its "abject failure" in trade negotiations with the US. According to a tariff chart read out by Trump, India will face 26% reciprocal tariff across the board. Trump said that the tariffs imposed by US are about half of what the countries levy on American products, calling them "discounted" and "kind" tariffs.

However, officials said that Trump’s imposition of 26 percent tariff on New Delhi “isn’t a setback” with the government expecting an exemption under Clause 4 of the executive order.

Top sources in the commerce ministry said a 10 percent tariff could be imposed on India and the rest of the world from April 5 and another 16 percent from April 10.