Trump’s trade czar Peter Navarro lashes out at India again ahead of trade talks: 'Unfair trade, funding Putin’s war'
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump’s trade czar Peter Navarro lashes out at India again ahead of trade talks: 'Unfair trade, funding Putin’s war'")
Donald Trump, Narendra Modi and Peter Navarro (inset) Photograph: (Combination created using images from AFP)
Amid a thaw in diplomatic relations, US President Donald Trump's trade secretary, Peter Navarro, has once again taken a dig at India, accusing the country of "unfair trade" and of using profits from its trade surplus with the US to fund Russian oil purchases.
US President Donald Trump's trade secretary, Peter Navarro on Monday (Sep 15) once again took a dig at India over its purchase of discounted Russian oil. During an interview, Navarro announced that New Delhi was "coming to the table" while commenting that India has very high tariffs. He also alleged that the nation was "making money" off the US via its "unfair trade" and claimed that New Delhi used this money to fund Russia's war in Ukraine. This comes as Indian and American teams meet in New Delhi on Tuesday (Sep 16) for trade talks after weeks of tensions.
What did Navarro say?
During an interview with CNBC International on Monday, Navarro remarked, "India is coming to the table…On the trade side, they have very high tariffs. They have very high non-tariff barriers. We had to deal with that, like we are dealing with every other country that does that."
He added that there was also the issue of "India buying Russian Oil" before claiming that the country "never did (purchased Russian oil" before 2022. "They make money off us via unfair trade, and many workers get screwed," said the Trump aide, adding, "They use that money to buy Russian oil, and Russians use that to buy weapons."
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A thaw in US-India icy relations
India and the United States on Tuesday will return to the negotiating table and hold trade talks. According to reports, the impending talks represent a significant reversal in bilateral ties after weeks of tensions between the two allies in the aftermath of the punitive 50 per cent tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on India for buying Russian oil. In a statement on Monday (Sep 15), Indian special secretary, commerce Rajesh Agarwal, India's chief negotiator for the bilateral trade talks, said that US chief negotiator Brendan Lynch "is in India tonight".
Indian Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal also confirmed that the US team would meet the Indian team on Tuesday. He said that the two sides remain in a "positive frame of mind" on trade relations.
The Tuesday talks are vital to India-US ties and may pave the way for the sixth round of the trade talks between the nations. The sixth round of talks was originally supposed to happen on August 25 in New Delhi, but was postponed after Trump, on August 7, imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India — 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs and 25 per cent punitive tariffs for the purchase of discounted US oil.
