New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump criticised the high tariffs charged by India and other countries, terming them as “very unfair” and announced reciprocal tariffs from April 2 on nations that impose levies on American goods. Trump made these remarks in an address to the Joint Session of the Congress on Tuesday. It was the first address of his second term in the White House. On January 20, Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the US.

“If you don't make your product in America, however, under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff and in some cases, a rather large one," Trump said. "Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades and now it's our turn to start using them against those other countries. On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada — have you heard of them? And countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them," Trump said. "It's very unfair. India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100 per cent."

Trump said he has received "strong signals" from Russia that it is ready for peace and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has written to him saying his country is ready to come to the negotiating table and also sign an agreement on minerals and security.

Trump made these remarks in an address to the Joint Session of Congress, the first of his second term in the White House.

"I'm also working tirelessly to end the savage conflict in Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians and Russians have been needlessly killed or wounded in this horrific and brutal conflict with no end in sight,” Trump said.

He told Congress that , he received an “important letter" from Zelenskyy, in which he said that “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy wrote in the letter, Trump said.

Trump said that Zelenskyy went on to write in the letter that his team and him “stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts. We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine, maintain its sovereignty and independence. Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time that is convenient for you.”