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India-US Trade Deal: In a sharp escalation of trade rhetoric, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, effective August 1, citing high tariffs, non-monetary trade barriers, and India’s ties with Russia.
The announcement was made via a post on Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, where he said the United States has done “relatively little business” with India over the years due to what he termed as excessive tariffs and trade restrictions.
“Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump wrote.
The US President further criticised India’s continued purchases of energy and military equipment from Russia, linking it to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!”
In a separate post, Trump pointed to an imbalanced trade relationship. “The US has a massive trade deficit with India,” he stated.
The decision follows a period of speculation over the exact tariff rate. On Tuesday, while speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump had hinted at possible tariffs between 20–25 per cent, but said that “nothing had been finalised.”
“India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country… You just can’t do that,” he said.
English (US) ·