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‘Why are Americans paying for AI in India?’: Trump aide Peter Navarro's new rant amid trade deadlock
The remarks come at a time of trade tensions between India and the US over a stalled deal and Trump’s 50% tariffs on New Delhi over Russian oil purchases.
After a hiatus of several weeks, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro seems to have started his tirade against India again, this time questioning why Americans were paying for artificial intelligence (AI) services in India when platforms, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, operate on US soil and use American electricity to serve a massive base of users, India among them.
In an interview with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon on “Real America Voice”, Navarro pointed to the issue that needs to “be dealt with”.
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What did he say?
“Why are Americans paying for AI in India? ChatGPT is operating on US soil, using American electricity and servicing large users of ChatGPT, for example, in India and China and elsewhere around the world. So, that's another issue that's got to be dealt with,” he said.
Navarro also raised concerns over the purchase of farmland, saying foreign groups were paying up to ten times the real value for agricultural land. He warned that this could push up food prices in the US.
Notably, these remarks come at a time of trade tensions between India and the US over a stalled deal and Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on New Delhi over Russian oil purchases.
Navarro’s allegations against India in the past
In the past, the trade adviser has criticised India over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian crude oil. He has even accused the country of helping to finance Russia’s “war machine” in Ukraine.
The White House official has also repeatedly used the term “Maharaja of tariffs” when referring to India. “It's important to understand that the rationale for the Indian tariffs are very different from the reciprocal tariffs. This was a pure national security issue associated with India's abject refusal to stop buying Russian oil,” Navarro said as he again called India the “Maharaja of tariffs”.
While defending the 50 per cent tariff on Indian imports imposed by US President Donald Trump, Navarro said that “Brahmins” were making profits at the cost of the Indian public.
India hit back at Navarro last year
The ministry of external affairs rejected the White House official’s remarks about “Brahmins profiteering” and called them “inaccurate”.
In a statement, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen some inaccurate statements made by him. We reject them.”
India had also said earlier that its energy purchases are “guided by what is on offer in markets and prevailing global situation,” and shaped by “national security imperatives and strategic assessments”.
New Delhi also described the tariffs as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” and questioned why it was being singled out at a time when China is buying more Russian energy.
