US President Donald Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro said on Monday that India “must come around” at some point on trade negotiations with the US or else it “won’t end well” for Delhi.
In an interview with the “Real America’s Voice” show, Navarro said the Indian government takes offence to him and described India as the ‘Maharajah’ of tariffs. “But it’s absolutely true. They have the highest tariffs in any major country in the world against the United States. We got to deal with that,” Navarro said.
He added that India never bought oil from Moscow before Russia invaded Ukraine, “except for like little tiny drops of it. “And then they go into this mode of profiteering with Russian refiners coming on to Indian soil and profiteering,” and American taxpayers end up having to send more money for the conflict, he said.
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He listed the “great” trade deals that the US has inked with the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia, saying “all these countries are working very closely with us” because they realise that they’ve been taking too much advantage of the US and also because they need American markets. “I think India must come around at some point. And if it doesn’t, it’s laying down with Russia and China, and that won’t end well for India,” he warned.
{{/usCountry}}He listed the “great” trade deals that the US has inked with the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia, saying “all these countries are working very closely with us” because they realise that they’ve been taking too much advantage of the US and also because they need American markets. “I think India must come around at some point. And if it doesn’t, it’s laying down with Russia and China, and that won’t end well for India,” he warned.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier in the day, the US President’s trade advisor termed India’s purchases of Russian oil as “blood money” and said Delhi didn’t buy oil from Moscow in large quantities before the Ukraine conflict.
Using an expletive in his post on X, Navarro said, “Fact: India didn’t buy Russian oil in large quantities before Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s blood money and people are dying.”
Last week, Navarro, White House’s Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing, had said in a post that “India highest tariffs costs U.S. jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. U.S. taxpayers shell out more. India can’t handle truth/spins.”
When a community note was added to Navarro’s post by X, he slammed Elon Musk, saying the X billionaire owner is “letting propaganda into people’s posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russia oil solely to profiteer. It didn’t buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian govt spin machine moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukrainians. Stop taking American jobs.”