US President Donald Trump intensified his critique of India’s trade practices, labeling the India-US economic relationship a “one-sided disaster” in a Truth Social post following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China. Trump’s remarks came hours after Modi’s high-profile engagements, where he reaffirmed India’s strategic partnerships with China and Russia, prompting the US leader to defend his administration’s imposition of a 50% tariff on Indian goods.
Trump argued that India conducts “tremendous” business with the US while selling “massive amounts of goods” but buying little in return, hindered by what he called India’s excessively high tariffs, which he claimed are among the world’s highest. “Our businesses are unable to sell to India,” he stated, reiterating accusations from his campaign trail that India is a “tariff abuser.”
He further criticized India’s reliance on Russian oil and military equipment, noting that India purchases “very little” from the US. Trump acknowledged India’s recent offer to reduce tariffs to zero but dismissed it as “too late,” asserting that such concessions should have been made years ago. The tariff escalation, which includes a 25% duty specifically targeting India’s Russian oil imports, has strained India-US relations, already tested by disagreements over India’s neutral stance on the Ukraine conflict.
The US imposed an initial 25% tariff on Indian goods on July 31, followed by an additional 25% on August 6, citing India’s oil trade with Russia as support for Moscow’s war efforts. Modi’s SCO Summit discussions, focusing on economic cooperation and regional stability with Xi and Putin, signal India’s pivot toward alternative partnerships amid these tensions, raising questions about the future of India-US trade ties.
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