Washington DC: US President Donald Trump has once again aimed for America’s trade relationship with India, calling it “a totally one-sided disaster” and asserting that New Delhi has only now offered to eliminate import duties on American goods, an offer he believes may have come too late.
In a pointed statement posted Monday on his social media platform, Trump claimed that India, after years of maintaining what he described as steep and restrictive tariffs, is now willing to drop those levies to zero. He, however, expressed skepticism about the timing, saying, “It’s getting late” for such a move.
“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us. In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest “client,” but we sell them very little…India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the US. They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago…” Donald Trump said in the post.
Trump’s remarks appear to allude to the protracted and often stalled negotiations between the two countries over a potential trade agreement. The latest comments follow his administration’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on a range of Indian imports, citing what he has characterized as years of unfair trade practices.
Adding fuel to the fire, Trump also criticized India’s growing trade ties with Russia, particularly in the areas of oil and defense. His comments echo frustrations from other senior US officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who last week cited India’s continued energy imports from Moscow and the sluggish pace of trade talks as contributing factors behind the recently enacted tariffs.
So far, the Indian government has not formally responded to Trump’s assertions. New Delhi has, however, consistently pushed back on Washington’s tariff policies and publicly questioned the rationale behind the punitive measures.
Tensions have been further exacerbated by sharp comments from members of Trump’s former administration, including Peter Navarro, who controversially accused Indian refiners of profiting from discounted Russian oil, referring to them as “Brahmin oil profiteers.”
In the midst of these escalating trade tensions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken high-level visits to regional allies, including Japan and China. Analysts interpret these moves as part of a broader effort to reaffirm long-standing ties with Russia and possibly recalibrate India’s global trade strategy in response to mounting pressure from the West.
As both countries continue to navigate a complicated economic and geopolitical landscape, it remains unclear whether the recent developments will reinvigorate stalled trade discussions or push them further apart.
