&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "'One-sided disaster...': Trump makes big 'no tariffs' claim on India-US trade amid Modi-Xi-Putin bonhomie at SCO")
United States President Donald Trump on Monday (Sep 1) went on a rant about India-US trade ties amid Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping's visible bonhomie at the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China. In a long post on Truth Social, Trump claimed India-US trade ties have been a ‘one-sided disaster.’ Reiterating America's disappointment over India's oil purchase from Russia, Trump claimed that New Delhi has offered a zero tariff, adding a cautionary note of ‘it’s getting late.’ Calling his claims a ‘simple fact’, Trump justified his tariffs on India.
“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us. In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest “client,” but we sell them very little - Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades… It has been a totally one-sided disaster," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. Adding weightage to his administration's criticism of India for buying Russian oil, Trump, in his post, highlighted that India should have done a course correction regarding the tariffs long back. He also said that India offered a zero tariff - a claim that India has not accepted so far.
India-US trade war
Trump, on July 31, imposed modified tariffs on its trading partners, citing an ongoing national emergency. The US had paused the April 2 tariffs, giving countries a window of 90 days to sign a trade deal with America. In the new tariffs, the Trump administration imposed a 25 per cent tariff on India. Trump then announced an additional tariff of 25 per cent on India for buying Russian oil and warned about doing the same with other nations. In all, Trump's 50 per cent tariff on India is now in effect. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his government's commitment towards farmers and small businesses. In a bold 'swadeshi' message, he said that businessmen should keep a big board outside their establishments, saying they sell ‘swadeshi’ goods, urging citizens to buy only 'Made in India' products this festival season. He also reiterated that the country won't compromise on the interests of farmers and small businesses.
