Trump Claims India Offered Zero Tariff on US Imports, but Calls India-Us Trade “One-Sided Disaster”
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 1: Within hours of the US Embassy in Delhi claimed the relationship between the two countries was “reaching new heights, the U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that India had offered to reduce tariffs on US goods to zero, suggesting the alleged offer had come very late, underlining that New Delhi should have done it years ago, as he described the India-U.S. relationship as a “one-sided disaster.”
The Trump administration has imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent levies for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.
“Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades. The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high Tariffs, the most of any country, that our businesses are unable to sell into India. It has been a totally one sided disaster,” he wrote. Mr Trump also said that India bought most of its oil and military equipment from Russia, and very little from the U.S.
Trump has accused India of fuelling Moscow’s deadly attacks on Ukraine by purchasing Russian oil. However, he has refrained from tougher US sanctions on Russia itself. Defending India’s oil purchase, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar argued that the same yardstick has not been applied to China and the European Union, the largest importer of Russian crude oil and Russian LNG, respectively.
“They have now offered to cut their tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago,” Mr Trump posted on Truth Social, adding that the relationship between the two countries has been a “one-sided disaster.” New Delhi said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.
Trump’s comments come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin. Since his return to the White House this year, Trump has wielded tariffs as a wide-ranging policy tool, with the levies upending global trade.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday ruled that many of Trump’s tariffs were illegal because he did not have authority to impose them. But the court allowed the levies to remain in place for now, giving Trump time to take the fight to the conservative-majority Supreme Court.
India will not “bow down” and instead focus on capturing new markets, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in his first public remarks since Washington imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods. The latest tariffs salvo from Trump has strained US-India ties, with New Delhi earlier criticising the levies as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.
Trade talks between the two countries have stumbled over agriculture and dairy markets. Trump wants greater US access, while PM Modi is determined to shield India’s farmers. The US was India’s top export destination in 2024, with shipments worth $87.3 billion.
“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us,” Trump said on Monday. “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. The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high Tariffs, the most of any country, that our businesses are unable to sell into India. It has been a totally one sided disaster! Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S,” he added.
Mr Trump and Mr Modi’s apparent bonhomie — evident in the first Trump administration — has unravelled in recent weeks, over an extraordinary 50% tariff on Indian exports to the U.S. and the inability of India and the U.S. to reach a trade deal. The tariff includes a 25% levy applied to India for its arms and energy trade with Russia.
Just earlier in the day, the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi had portrayed the U.S.-India relationship in optimistic terms. In a post on X, the Embassy had said that the relationship continued to “reach new heights.” It quoted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praising the people-to-people ties as crucial to taking the India-U.S. relationship forward.
