- Trump criticizes India-US trade, calls current deal “totally one-sided.”
- India proposes reducing tariffs “to nothing,” while defending Russian oil imports.
- US-India relations are strained amid the SCO summit, Russia oil, and 50% US tariffs.
US President Donald Trump states that India has proposed to reduce its tariffs "to nothing" while labeling the existing trade impasse with the nation "a totally one sided disaster".
Last week, US tariffs of 50% on products from India began, which encompasses a 25% penalty due to Delhi's decision to continue purchasing oil from Russia. India has not reacted to Trump's recent remark, but this exchange of words regarding Russian oil has led to a significant decline in Delhi-Washington relations.
Trump's remark aligns with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence at the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, where he encountered Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Washington claims that Delhi has been providing indirect financial support for Russia's conflict in Ukraine.
"India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the US," Trump wrote, adding Delhi should have cut tariffs "years ago".
Delhi has stated before that oil imports from Russia are essential to fulfill the energy requirements of its large population.
It has described the tariffs as "unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable." The commerce minister of the nation, Piyush Goyal, stated last week that India never yield nor display weakness in its economic ties with other nations. He also mentioned that the nation was prepared to establish a free-trade agreement with anyone interested.
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On Monday, Trump wrote, "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 - Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades."
Until recently, the US was India's top trading partner, and the tariffs have raised concerns that exports and growth in the world's fifth-largest economy might be negatively impacted.
During the SCO summit, Modi was spotted greeting Putin with a handshake before a meeting led by Xi. The SCO, with members such as China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia, is perceived as a challenge to Trump and US supremacy on a worldwide scale.