M A Hossain :
After President Donald Trump’s announcement of hitting US $ 200 billion on Chinese exports to the United States with 10 percent tariffs, if Beijing retaliates against his previous announcement to target US $50 billion in imports ; in stunning bid, India has increased the custom duty on several goods including Bengal grams, lentils and artemia- a kind of shrimp imported from the United States. The import duty on chickpeas and Bengal grams has been increased to 60 percent and for lentils, it has been raised to 30 percent.
India also has hiked import duties on boric acid, and binders for foundry moulds to 7.5 percent while that on domestic reagents was raised to 10 percent. The duty on artemia has been hiked to 10 percent. The other products on which duties have been increased, include, certain kind of nuts( imported from the United States, China and African nations), iron and steel products (imported from China, European nations, and the US), apples, pears, flat rolled products and stainless steel, other alloy steel, tube and pipe fittings, screws, bolts and rivets(mostly imported from China).
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased the import tariff to retaliate President Donald Trump’s recent announcements of increasing tariffs on steel and aluminium products exported to US by other countries.
President Trump’s decision of increasing tariffs on the steel and aluminium items has affected India’s steel exports to the US by US $ 198 million and aluminium shipments by US $ 42.4 million. India’s exports to United States in 2016-2017 fiscal year stood at US $ 42.21 billion. India also is exporting readymade garments and textile products (including high-end garments) worth billions of dollars. Even Ivanka Trump’s business enterprises are buying readymade garments from India, while there are serious allegations against those India’s companies exporting high-end textile items to the Trump’s worth billions of dollars of treating their workers, especially female workers as slaves. This allegation has been raised right in presence of Ms. Ivanka Trump, when she visited India last year.
India’s counter increase of import tariffs and taxes not only directly challenges the lone Supper Power in the world but it clearly is an exposed act of showing red-eyes to President Donald Trump and his administration.
As in my previous articles, repeatedly I had claimed that India has become over- ambitious in emerging as global power and Narendra Modi and his previous governments had very successfully patronized and promoted anti- American forces in the region and had even planted Delhi’s loyalist governments in some of the South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, most possibly India now is going to play extremely offensive roles alongside China and some of the European Union nations against President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policy.
After leaving UNESCO by branding its as biased towards Hamas, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Ms. Nikki Halley has declared to leave the membership of the United Nations Human Rights Commission by branding it as ‘Israel basher’.
I would like to humbly remind ambassador Nikki Halley and the Trump administration that India not only has been a loyal friend of Iran, Palestinians and Hamas, but it always has been playing significant role in any anti-Israel initiatives taken by the United Nations. New Delhi has clearly rejected Trump’s decision of shifting the United States embassy to Jerusalem.
Because, India does not recognize Jerusalem as the ‘undivided and eternal capital’ of the Jewish State. But most possibly, President Donald Trump or his administration ; including ambassador Nikki Halley do not have the guts of challenging India’s exposed anti-US policies. If to the US administration, China is the key economic rival than India certainly is their main ideological and political enemy.
President Donald Trump needs to remember- Narendra Modi is the preacher and promoter of radical Hinduism ; and any radical Hindu won’t even ever recognize any other religious beliefs except Hinduism. In their minds, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and all other religions but Hinduism are ‘man-made’. But, Hindus won’t open their minds on this issue as they are continuing be fooling the world through hypocrisy which is no different than Iranian’s rogue policy called ‘Taqiya'( Deception).
As a part of President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policy and making America great again, it is important for Washington to closely monitor the Hindutva India. As America is known as the land of braves and heroes – India always is known as the lands of crooks and hypocrites. Lets not forget this point!
(The author is a political and defense analyst in Bangladesh).
