- I don’t care what India is doing with Russia: Trump.
- The US president says New Delhi’s tariffs highest in the world.
- Trump announced the introduction of 25% duty on Indian goods.
With the deadline of August 1 to reach a trade agreement with the United States expiring Friday (tomorrow), President Donald Trump on Thursday attacked India and Russia over trade and said he didn’t care what any of them did.
“I don’t care what India is doing with Russia. They can take their dead economies together, for everything I love,” President Trump said in a post on X.
“We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high among the highest in the world,” the president added.
The scare comments follow Trump’s previous statement saying that Washington and New Delhi were negotiating a trade agreement after announcing earlier in the day that the United States would impose a 25% duty on goods imported from the country.
The 25% duty, as well as an unspecified penalty announced by Trump in a morning on social media, would strain relations with the world’s most populous democracy.
The 25% figure would point out India more seriously than other major trading partners and threaten to reveal months with conversations between the two countries and undermine a strategic partner in Washingtons and a counterbalance to China.
In response to the 25% duty post of Trump, the Indian government said the studied consequences of Trump’s messages and remained dedicated to securing a fair trade agreement.
As for Trump’s threat, what the penalty would be is not yet clear. The US president had initially indicated that it was for India to buy Russian weapons and oil and its non-monetary trading barriers.
When asked about the penalty in the White House, he said it was partly due to trade issues, and partly because of India’s commitment to the BRICS group of developing countries, which he described as hostile to the US Trump in July, said the United States will impose an additional 10% duty in any country that adjusted with the “anti-American politics” of Brics.
Disputed problem
The White House had previously warned India about its high average tariffs used – almost 39% on agricultural products, with rates climbing to 45% on vegetable oils and about 50% on apples and corn.
“While India is our friend, over the years we have 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 disgusting non-monetary trading barriers in any country,” Trump wrote in a truth social post.
It should be noted that Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India in the first six months of 2025, which makes up 35% of the total supplies.
The United States, the world’s largest economy, currently has a trade deficit of $ 45.7 billion with India, the fifth largest.
The economic adviser of the White House Kevin Hassett said Trump has been frustrated by the development of trade negotiations with India and believed that 25% the duty announcement would help the situation.
The new US tax on imports from India would be higher than in many other countries that entered into Agreement Trump administration recently. Vietnam’s duty is set to 20%and Indonesia at 19%, while the tax for Japan and the European Union is 15%.
The United States and Indian dealers have held several rounds of discussions to solve disputed problems, especially over market access to India for US agricultural and dairy products.
In its latest statement, India said it attached the greatest importance to protect and promote welfare of its farmers, entrepreneurs and small businesses.
