US President Donald Trump has accused India of maintaining a “totally one-sided” trade relationship, even as he claimed Delhi has offered to slash tariffs “to nothing.”
Washington last week imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods — including a 25% penalty for Delhi’s refusal to stop importing Russian oil. The move has triggered a new low in US-India relations.
India has dismissed the tariffs as “unfair and unreasonable,” with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal vowing the country “will neither bow down nor ever appear weak” in its trade dealings. He also reiterated India’s willingness to pursue free-trade agreements with willing partners.
Trump, however, insists India’s reliance on Russia for oil and defense supplies amounts to indirect funding of Moscow’s war in Ukraine. “They sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest client, but we sell them very little,” Trump wrote. “It has been a totally one-sided relationship for decades.”
The war of words coincided with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appearance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi and Putin were later pictured together after a 45-minute discussion inside the Russian leader’s car, which Modi described as “insightful.”
The SCO, which includes India, China, Russia, Pakistan, and Iran is increasingly viewed as a counterweight to US influence on global affairs, underscoring how Trump’s tariff offensive may push Delhi closer to Moscow and Beijing.
