Washington, D.C. – US President Donald Trump on Wednesday , said that “friend” India will have to pay a 25% tariff starting August 1, along with an extra “penalty.” This is a big increase in trade hostilities. Trump said that India’s “far too high” tariffs, strict trade barriers, and ongoing large purchases of military equipment and energy from Russia during the war in Ukraine were the direct reasons for the unprecedented move he made on his Truth Social platform.
“India is our friend, but we’ve done very little business with them over the years because their tariffs are among the highest in the world and they have the most annoying and difficult non-monetary trade barriers of any country,” Trump wrote.
The US President then linked the new punishments directly to India’s geopolitical ties: “Also, they have always bought a lot of their military equipment from Russia, and they are Russia’s biggest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! Starting on August 1, India will have to pay a 25% tariff and a fine for the above. Thank you for taking the time to look into this. “Make America Great Again!”
In another post, Trump repeated his long-standing complaint that the US has a “huge trade deficit” with India.
There had been a lot of talk in the days leading up to this announcement about what the exact tariff rate would be. He had hinted at a 20–25% tariff rate earlier on Tuesday, but he made it clear that nothing had been set in stone. He still called India a “good friend,” but he said that New Delhi charges the US more tariffs than “almost any other country.” “India has been a good friend, but it has charged more tariffs than almost any other country.” On Air Force One, Trump said, “You just can’t do that.”
The Indian government has stuck to its position in trade talks in the past. Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce, said earlier this month that India won’t sign any trade pact that has a deadline. Instead, it will only accept a proposed trade deal with the US when it is fully negotiated, properly concluded, and clearly in India’s national interest.
This latest action by the US President is likely to make commerce between the two countries much more difficult, which might hurt many industries and force New Delhi to respond diplomatically.