- I don’t care what India does with Russia: Trump.
- US president says New Delhi’s tariffs highest in world.
- Trump announced imposing 25% tariffs on Indian goods.
With the August 1 deadline to reach a trade agreement with the United States expires on Friday (tomorrow), President Donald Trump on Thursday assailed India and Russia over trade, saying that he didn’t care what either of them did.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” 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 scathing remarks follow Trump’s earlier statement, where he said that Washington and New Delhi were in the process of negotiating a trade deal, after announcing earlier in the day that the US would impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from the country.
The 25% tariff, as well as an unspecified penalty announced by Trump in a morning social media post, would strain relations with the world’s most populous democracy.
The 25% figure would single out India more severely than other major trading partners, and threaten to unravel months of talks between the two countries, undermining a strategic partner of Washington’s and a counterbalance to China.
Responding to the 25% tariff post by Trump, the Indian government said it was studying the implications of Trump’s announcements and remained dedicated to securing a fair trade deal.
Regarding Trump’s threat, what the penalty would be is not yet clear. The US president had initially indicated it was for India buying Russian arms and oil, and its non-monetary trade barriers.
When asked about the penalty at the White House, he said it was partly due to trade issues and partly because of India’s involvement in the BRICS group of developing nations, which he described as hostile to the US Trump in July said the US will impose an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the “Anti-American policies” of the BRICS.
Contentious issue
The White House had previously warned India about its high average applied tariffs – nearly 39% on agricultural products, with rates climbing to 45% on vegetable oils and around 50% on apples and corn.
“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 in a Truth Social post.
It is to be noted that Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India during the first six months of 2025, making up 35% of overall supplies.
The United States, the world’s largest economy, currently has a $45.7 billion trade deficit with India, the fifth largest.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Trump has been frustrated with the progress of trade talks with India and believed the 25% tariff announcement would help the situation.
The new US tax on imports from India would be higher than on many other countries that struck deals with the Trump administration recently. Vietnam’s tariff is set at 20% and Indonesia’s at 19%, while the levy for Japan and the European Union is 15%.
US and Indian negotiators have held multiple rounds of discussions to resolve contentious issues, particularly over market access into India for US agricultural and dairy products.
In its latest statement, India said it attached the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of its farmers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.
