Cites Indian duty of 100 per cent on motorcycles as unfair trade practice and vows to change it.

In an indication that increased market access for American companies will be a key priority in his engagement with New Delhi, U.S President Donald Trump mentioned the 100 per cent duty that India imposes on high-end motorcycles as a case of unfair trade practice and vowed to change it, in his first address to the U.S Congress.

Mr. Trump did not take India’s name, but India is the only major country that has a 100 per cent customs duty on motorcycles. American company Harley-Davidson has been seeking a duty reduction for several years now. Recalling his meeting with the company’s executives on February 2, Mr. Trump said: “They said that in one case another country taxed their motorcycles at 100 per cent. They weren’t even asking for change. But I am.” “I believe strongly in free trade but it also has to be fair trade,” he said.

Cites Lincoln

Citing Abraham Lincoln to declare that he would purse an openly protectionist and nationalist policy that favours American companies, workers and soldiers, the President said: “My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent the United States of America.” The President said American companies were facing trade barriers across the world.

Mr. Trump’s statement sets the tone for Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s meetings with several U.S. interlocutors this week in Washington. U.S. administration officials, who did not want to be named, told The Hindu that the Trump administration is likely to press India on trade matters. India is moving up in the list of U.S. trade partners and this has added a new urgency to the question of market access, according to these sources. According to data for 2016 released recently, India is the 9th biggest trading partner of the U.S. In 2015, India was the 10th biggest and in 2014 it was the 11th biggest. Internal administrative deliberations in the U.S. usually focus on the “top ten,” bringing India into sharp focus on trade deficit debates. Last year, India had a trade surplus of around $26 billion with the U.S., in goods trade alone.

High duties under scanner

The Trump administration will be less concerned about balancing trade issues with strategic concerns, according to Richard Rossow, Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at Centre for Strategic and International Studies. “For India, that means that sectors with price controls, high customs duties, or compulsory local manufacturing rules may increasingly be on the radar screen. Pressing India to liberalize FDI caps, which could result in manufacturing relocation, will get less attention,” he said.

Mr. Trump sought the support of the U.S. Congress to overhaul the immigration system in favour of skilled entrants, excluding the low-skilled people who, he said, were a burden on American taxpayers. “Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, will have many benefits: it will save countless dollars, raise workers' wages, and help struggling families --- including immigrant families --- enter the middle class,” he said.

At last, condemns Kansas shooting

Breaking his silence on the murder of Indian engineer Srinival Kuchibhotla in Kansas last week, Mr. Trump said the country was united is condemning it. Clubbing the violence against Indians with racial attacks on blacks and Jews, the President said: “..as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of Black History Month, we are reminded of our Nation's path toward civil rights and the work that still remains. Recent threats targeting Jewish Community Centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week’s shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a Nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms.”

“I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart,” the President said. Earlier on Tuesday, Ian Grillot, the 24-year-old white American who had come to defend the Indians in Kansas, had urged the President to speak up on the issue. “I would like to hear him address it because it is a very sensitive subject right now,” Mr. Grillot told a TV interview.