In response to US President Donald Trump announcing up to 100% tariffs on imports of branded and patented pharmaceutical drugs from October 1, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday sharply criticised the central government, claiming its foreign policy failures are harming India’s economy and trade.

Speaking to the media, Yadav said, “They are harming our economy constantly. And our trade is getting harmed because of the tariffs. The foreign policy of the BJP seems to be failing. It is their failure that our businesses, trade and our nation are suffering. What would our traders and businessmen do if there are 50-100% tariffs?”

Highlighting missed opportunities, he added, “We recently saw that there was a trade fair in Uttar Pradesh and investments came. These efforts should have started from day one. What did this government do for 9 years? And how much did the central government cooperate?”

On domestic taxation, Yadav commented, “It was not known to them for 9 years how the GST was harming the poor... On one hand, GST is being reduced, on the other hand, GST is being increased. Profits (of the government) are not decreasing... The foreign policy has failed. The people of India will now get cheap medicines.”