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'Getting late': Donald Trump says India offered zero tariffs, terms ties as 'totally one-sided'
India-US trade talks hit a snag in August as a US visit was cancelled; Trump imposed 50% tariffs and criticised India’s Russia ties and high duties.
US President Donald Trump on Monday termed Washington’s ties with New Delhi “totally one-sided” and again criticised India for its high tariffs on American products. Trump’s statement came on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.
“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,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
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“They have now offered to cut their tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago. Just some simple facts for people to ponder!!!” Trump added in his post.
Trump had earlier implied that India and the United States would arrive at an “Indonesia-style deal”. The Southeast Asian nation concluded an agreement with Washington that left it facing a 19% tariff while US exporters faced zero tariffs in the Indonesian market. However, such a lopsided agreement has been a political red line for India in trade talks.
Trade talks between India and the United States suffered a setback in August when an expected visit by an American delegation was abruptly put off amid rising tensions. President Donald Trump levied a 50% tariff on India and lambasted the country’s energy purchases from Russia as well as its high tariffs.
Five rounds of negotiations took place between March and July, with technical teams largely concluding the framework by late June. However, the talks remained deadlocked over three core issues: agricultural market access, tariff reciprocity, and ongoing WTO disputes.
Trump’s criticism of India follows comes even as senior aides and officials in Washington have increased public pressure on New Delhi. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and senior trade adviser Peter Navarro have publicly criticised continued Indian purchases of oil from Russia.
Trump’s displeasure with India’s position on these issues --- as well as with India’s insistence on denying credit to the US President for the May ceasefire with Pakistan --- have reportedly troubled the bilateral relationship. According to reports in the US media, Trump no longer plans to travel to India for the Quad leaders’ summit, which was scheduled to be held later this year.
