New Delhi [India], July 30 : Following US President Donald Trump imposing 25 per cent tariffs on India from August 1, including an additional penalty for buying energy and arms from Russia, Congress MP Ujjwal Raman Singh criticised the centre and said that India's foreign policy has failed, and now the economic policy is also failing.
Singh said, "The 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 further said that the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has raised the issue several times inside the Parliament and outside the Parliament, but the government of India is not concerned.
"We are speaking for the country. The way Trump is humiliating the country, the way in which they are forcing the Indian government to carry on trade on their terms, people of India will never accept this. The government is not able to send this message. Where is the friendship? If there is any compromise on the interests of India and there is a risk to sovereignty, then Congress will raise the voice of the people," he said.
The Congress MP further said that if America is concerned about the people of India and markets, then they have to work in India's terms.
"If they do not work in our terms, then no deal would be balanced. The government is hiding the facts and not telling the truth," he added.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh hit out at the government, saying all the praise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has meant little and he should "stand up to the US President".
"President Trump has slapped a tariff of 25% plus penalty on imports from India. All that taarif between him and Howdy Modi has meant little," the Congress leader posted on X.
"Mr. Modi thought that if he kept quiet on the insults that the US President has hurled on India -- the 30 claims of stopping Op Sindoor, the special lunch for the Pakistan Army Chief whose inflammatory remarks provided the immediate backdrop to the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks, and US support for financial packages to Pakistan from the IMF and the World Bank --- India would get special treatment at the hands of President Trump. Clearly that has NOT happened," he said.
Trump in a post on his Truth Social platform said, "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!"
Yesterday, Trump had hinted that India could face tariffs between 20-25% since a trade deal had not been finalised.
Trump had imposed reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries with which the US has a trade deficit.
President Trump decided to pause the tariffs for 90 days after many countries initiated talks with the US administration for a trade deal. In these 90 days, starting April 9, and ending on July 9, President Trump imposed a 10 per cent baseline tariff on all countries.
The Trump administration deferred imposing additional tariffs on several countries, including India, till August 1, and indicated a further extension was unlikely.
Since assuming office for his second term, President Trump has reiterated his stance on tariff reciprocity, emphasising that the United States will match tariffs imposed by other countries, including India, "to ensure fair trade".