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Why India, not China?: US Democrats panel slams Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs
Democrats said if Trump truly wanted to end the war, he would keep Ukraine strong in talks instead of forcing it into Putin’s “maximalist” surrender terms.
Democrats in the US House Foreign Affairs Committee have slammed President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on India, saying the move threatens the US-India relationship and has little to do with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
“Instead of imposing sanctions on China or others purchasing larger amounts of Russian oil, Trump's singling out India with tariffs, hurting Americans & sabotaging the US-India relationship in the process,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The Democrats also said that if Trump were genuinely interested in ending the war, he would ensure Ukraine remained strong in negotiations rather than being forced into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “maximalist” terms of surrender.
After announcing tariffs on India, which took effect on Wednesday, Democrats have repeatedly taken on the Trump administration. The panel had earlier stated that targeting India with tariffs does nothing to stop Putin or end the war in Ukraine.
“Tariffing India won’t stop Putin. If Trump really wanted to address Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, maybe punish Putin and give Ukraine the military aid it needs. Everything else is smoke and mirrors,” the committee had written in a post earlier this month.
President Donald Trump had initially announced a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods. Earlier this month, he signed an executive order imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff in response to India’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total U.S. tariffs on Indian exports to 50 per cent.
The Indian government estimates that the tariffs will affect $48.2 billion in exports, The Associated Press. It also cited officials who have warned that the new duties could make shipments to the US commercially unviable, potentially triggering job losses and slower economic growth.
While India–US trade relations have expanded in recent years, they remain vulnerable to disputes over market access and domestic political pressures. As one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies, India could face a slowdown as a result of the tariffs.
