Web desk: President Donald Trump has criticised the United States’ trade relationship with India, calling it a “totally one-sided disaster.”
Trump said that while the US imports a massive volume of goods from India, it exports very little in return due to what he described as India’s “highest tariffs of any country.” He noted that US businesses have long been unable to compete in the Indian market.
“India has charged us such high tariffs for decades that it has been impossible for US companies to sell there,” Trump remarked, adding that the imbalance has gone on “for many decades.”
He also pointed out that India continues to buy most of its oil and military equipment from Russia rather than the United States.
According to Trump, India has now offered to reduce tariffs to zero, but he stressed that the move comes “too late” and should have happened years ago.
Trump’s latest comments come shortly after his administration announced a 50 per cent tariff on Indian imports, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil despite US objections.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified that the steep tariffs are not only linked to India’s energy trade with Russia, but also reflect Washington’s frustration over years of stalled trade talks between the two nations.
Meanwhile, Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro intensified criticism by labelling the Russia-Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war,” asserting that “the road to peace runs, at least partly, right through New Delhi.” He further argued that “everybody in America loses because of what India is doing.”
Read more: Indian accounts resort to old Modi pictures amid SCO disappointment
