With Trump’s return, ‘tariff’ has become household word: Jairam

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said ‘tariff’ has become a household word with the second coming of US President Donald Trump, as he shared the origin of the word.

“With the second coming of Trump, ‘tariff’ has become a household word and the US President himself never tires of using it,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

“The word ‘tariff’ owes its origin to the bustling Venetian trade with the Arab world during the 10th-15th centuries. The Arabic ‘arrafa’ meaning ‘notify’ led to the Italian ‘tariffa’ and through French it entered the English language,” he said.

His remarks come with sources saying that India is examining Trump’s memorandum – America First Trade Policy – to assess its impact on the bilateral trade with the US, which is its largest trading partner.

The sources said that the White House directive to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to identify countries with which the US can negotiate agreements on a bilateral or sector-specific basis is a positive development for countries like India.

According to the memorandum, the USTR would identify countries with which the US can negotiate agreements on a bilateral or sector-specific basis to obtain export market access for America and shall make recommendations regarding such potential agreements.

Economic think tank GTRI has said that India should respond with equal measures if the US would impose higher tariffs on domestic goods.

President Trump has warned that he will impose 100 per cent tariffs against countries of the BRICS bloc, of which India is a part, if they take any steps to replace the US dollar.