Congress president Mallikarjan Kharge has said that the US threat to impose up to 100 percent tariff on India will affect Indian exports and the interests of farmers, so the government should give priority to national interest instead of succumbing to its pressure.
Mallikarjan Kharge on Wednesday said on Social Media X that the US threat to raise tariffs to 100% on Indian goods shows the failure of Modi government's foreign and trade policy. He said that medicines, textiles, engineering equipment, chemicals, auto parts, gems and jewelery as well as electronics and technology sector could face a huge increase in tariffs.
He said that first 25% and then 50% tariff was imposed and now 100% tariff is being threatened. He said that the Modi government has agreed to such a trade framework, which will increase the market in India for US agricultural products and affect the interests of farmers. According to him, under this framework, there will be pressure on India to buy US goods worth about 500 billion dollars in the next five years.
The Congress President linked the government's decision to end the zero MDR system on UPI to US pressure, saying that US pressure is increasing in various areas including tariffs, trade, H-1B visa, visa system and digital payments.
Earlier, Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh wrote today that the US House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill imposing 100 percent tariffs on India on Wednesday, while the US Senate has already approved it. The Trump administration has increased the cost of H-1B visas while cracking down on Indian immigrants. Under the modified system, visa holders can be deported immediately if they become unemployed.
Jairam Ramesh said that the Modi government bowing to the demands of the US has opened the way to impose charges on UPI by abolishing the zero MDR system. He questioned why there is 0.4 percent MDR and is it because the MDR on debit cards is also 0.4 percent? He asked if this was being done to enable US card companies to compete with UPI.
Will this make UPI 'sustainable,' as the government claims? He also said that the estimated cost of running the entire UPI ecosystem is around Rs 20,000 crore annually and this amount is less than 10 percent of the amount transferred to the central government by the Reserve Bank of India in the last few years.