President Trump said Thursday that his reciprocal tariff rates are “very fair” and said he spoke with India during his first administration about the high tariffs but wasn’t able to get a “concession.”

“So we’re just going to do the easy way,” Mr. Trump said at a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We’re just going to say, whatever you charge, we charge. And I think that’s fair for the people of the United States and I think it’s actually fair for India.”

He said he doesn’t “blame” India for having high tariffs, “but it’s a different way of doing business.”

“We are, right now, a reciprocal nation,” he said, hours after signing an executive order calling for reciprocal tariffs against any nations who impose them on the U.S.

He also said that during his first administration he wasn’t “in the mood” to put reciprocal tariffs on other nations because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus outbreak was declared a pandemic in March 2020, the last year of Mr. Trump’s first term.

“We would have done the reciprocal tariffs, but we decided, I decided, I think, on a human basis, on the humane basis, not to do it because of the fact that there was such suffering all over the world,” he said.

“We felt that now it’s finally time after 45 or 50 years of abuse,” he said.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.