New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) President Donald Trump has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods because he has to settle his country's national debt which is higher than that of its GDP or else America will "shut down", a senior RSS functionary said on Monday, calling it a "catastrophic situation" in the US.

Addressing an event here, RSS leader Mukul Kanitkar attributed the prevailing situation in the US to its wrong economic policies and said that only Bharat can "guide the world" in today's dire situation.

"America's GDP is less than 30 trillion dollars… It's 29 trillion dollars. And their national debt is 36 trillion dollars. Amdani athanni, kharcha rupaiya (living beyond one's means)," he said, in an apparent swipe at the US president.

Kanitkar claimed America "shut down for at least one week" and the US government will not have funds to even pay the salary to its employees if the amount of debt is not settled next month, he said.

"To do MAGA (Make America Great Again), he (Trump) feels that a 50 per cent tariff will have to be imposed on Bharat because he has to settle a debt of 9 trillion dollars in October," he said.

"Ab aaplog samajiye ki Trump tau ji ki itni haalat kyon kharab hai (Now you understand why Trump uncle's condition is so bad)," said the RSS ideologue, who is a member of the Hindutva organisation's core group, "Pracahar Toli", which looks after narrative building.

"This is the result of 'anarth vyawastha' (catastrophic system) of the so-called 'shrimant' (rich) countries… Only Bharat can guide the world in today's catastrophic situation," he added.

The event was organised by RSS-linked Hindi weekly, Panchjanya. PTI PK PK KSS KSS

Import tariffs used as a fiscal tool to address national debt; claim cites tariff on Indian goods with political rhetoric. A senior RSS functionary characterised an alleged executive trade measure - the imposition of a 50 per cent import tariff on Indian goods - as a fiscal instrument adopted to address a perceived shortfall in the United States' public finances, portraying the tariff as driven by urgent debt-servicing needs rather than conventional trade policy objectives.