Donald Trump paints picture of a ‘total victory’ for US amid tariff woes : ‘30%, 40%, 50%…’ -- What it looks like

US President Donald Trump has said that it will be a “total victory” for America if it still has 50 per cent tariffs on foreign imports a year on.

Trump made the comment while speaking with Time Magazine during an interview.

“If we still have high tariffs, whether it's 20% or 30% or 50%, on foreign imports a year from now, will you consider that a victory,” the interviewer asked Trump.

“Total victory,” the US President replied.

Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a series of tariffs on nations across the world including a 10 per cent tariff on virtually everything coming into the United States. The tariff on India has been set as 26 per cent, while China has taken the biggest hit with 145 per cent levies.

However, a week later, Trump paused the imposition of the tariffs for all countries except China for 90 days. The decision is aimed at negotiating with countries to lower their tariffs on US-made goods.

According to Fitch ratings, America now has the highest tariff rates among all developed countries in the world, with its combined tariffs standing at 22.8 per cent.

Donald Trump's tariff jibe to India

When asked why he thinks it will be a victory, Donald Trump said countries like China and India charged tariffs on US to become rich.

“Because the country will be making a fortune,” he said.

“That's what China did to us. They charge us 100 per cent. If you look at India—India charges 100-150 per cent. If you look at Brazil, if you look at many, many countries, they charge—that's how they survive. That's how they got rich,” he said.

While zero tariffs would be easy, Trump said that companies will not come to the US.

“They're coming in because they don't want to pay the tariffs. Remember this, there are no tariffs, if they make their product here. There are no tariffs, if they make their product here,” he said.

Trump saw a potential of earning billions of dollars through the process.

“There are no tariffs. This is a tremendous success. You just don't know it yet, but this is a tremendous success what’s happening. We're taking in billions and billions of dollars, money that we never took in before,” the US President told Time Magazine.

Donald Trump's tariffs have slowed down business

As a result of the high tariffs imposed by the US, business has slowed down with other countries. This has resulted in importers, exporters and other small businesses bearing the brunt.

Trump earlier said that trade with China has slowed down to almost zero as a result of US tariffs.

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book — a weekly survey of American business leaders — said that business owners are uncertain how to invest in the future and have paused hiring.