Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, on Wednesday, explained the rationale behind US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Indian goods, saying the US leader views tariffs as a “magic instrument” to address multiple problems.
Speaking to ANI, Tharoor said, “He feels that too many things that used to be manufactured in America are now being imported from abroad. He wants to make that more expensive so that the American manufacturers will start doing things more in America and employ American workers who are his MAGA constituency, as it’s called.”
He added, “Secondly, he believes that tariffs can be a useful source of revenue for his country. There is a massive deficit in America, colossal. It is the largest in the world by far. He hopes that by actually collecting, as he claims, billions of dollars every month in revenues by tariffs, he will be able to bring down his deficit.
Tharoor also criticised the tariffs as “unfair” and described accompanying statements from Trump and trade advisor Peter Navarro as “extremely offensive.”
Further slamming the US President's move, the Congress MP noted, "The unfairness of this has created a very strong backlash in India and the accompanying insults, both by Mr Trump’s own language in his statements and tweets and subsequently extremely offensive statements by his advisor Mr Navarro.”
Criticising Trump and Navarro’s rhetoric, he said, “If there’s no particular problem in a relationship of 30 years…why would you use this kind of language about India? This was not at all appreciated.”
Tharoor, who chairs India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, led a meeting on Tuesday with a five-member US Congressional delegation, all Democrats, including four from California. The lawmakers expressed strong support for the India-US partnership but raised concerns over H-1B visa hikes, the 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods, and US sanctions on the Chabahar Port.
On the H-1B visa fee hike, Tharoor called it “America’s domestic politics” and added, “Today, the dominant forces of the so-called MAGA movement are openly anti-immigrants…An Indian techie earning $60,000 is seen as taking jobs from Americans who won’t work for less than $85-90, so only the high-end, irreplaceable top talent will come.”
However, criticising the surprisingly low engagement of the Indian-American diaspora, Tharoor said, "One of the congresswomen said that not one phone call has come to her office from any Indian-American voter asking for her to support a change of policy, and this is something that is surprising".
He further noted, "I think we all need to reach out to the Indian-American population, saying, if you care about the relationship with your motherland, then you also have to fight for it, speak for it, and make more of an effort to press your political representatives to stand up for India. But the ones who came here are already friends of India, well disposed towards India and they have spoken very warmly and positively of the relationship".
Tharoor's remarks follow Trump’s 50 percent tariff on Indian goods, including a 25 percent penalty linked to Russian crude, and Navarro’s critical, caste-based comments on India’s trade and foreign policy.
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