Trump addresses US Congress, announces reciprocal tariffs from April 2

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump addressed the US Congress for the first time after being elected president. Trump began his speech by saying, "America is back." Trump claimed that in just 43 days, his administration had accomplished more than what previous administrations had done in eight years.

Trump said that all goverment-level censorships had ended and that freedom of thought and expression had been restored. He reiterated that there are only two genders- male and female, and no such category as transgender. He also said that countries, including India, impose much higher tariffs on the US than the US imposes them.

"European countries, India, China, Brazil and others impose higher tariffs. India imposes 100% tariffs. This is unfair and unacceptable. On April 2, reciprocal tariffs kick in. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them. If they use non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we will use non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market. We will introduce a new trade policy for American farmers. Many substandard products are being imported to America from other countries. The new tariffs coming into effect on April 2 will target agricultural products," Trump said.

Trump aims to impose the same tariff rates on imports from foreign countries as other countries impose on US exports. He imposed a 25% tariff on aluminium, copper and steel from abroad, claiming that this decision would protect job opportunities. He also assured that egg prices would be controlled and brought down to an affordable level. He also announced the end of the exemptions previously given to Mexico and Canada, pointing out that the fentanyl drug that caused the deaths of thousands of Americans was coming from these countries.