United States President Donald Trump's decision to impose sweeping tariffs on Indian goods is drawing fire from within his own country, with leaders warning
that the tariff move put Washington's relationship with New Delhi at risk. Former US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell criticised Trump's decision to impose a 50 per cent tariff on India. He said that by imposing sweeping tariffs on India, citing Russian oil imports, Trump is risking US's most important relationship. "America's most important relationship in the 21st century is with India. Much of that is now at risk," Campbell said in an interview with CNBC International. He said that the Indian government was in a "difficult position" because of the manner in which Trump spoke about Prime Minister Modi. The former US deputy secretary urged India to not give in to Trump's demands. "Prime Minister Modi shouldn't bend the knee to President Trump," he said. He warned Trump, "If you tell India that it has to sacrifice its relationship with Russia, then Indian strategists are going to do the exact opposite.” Earlier, senior US lawmaker Gregory Meeks has openly criticised Trump's decision to impose tariffs on India. Meeks warned that Trump's "tantrums" risk undoing years of work done to cement the US-India partnership. "Trump's latest tariff tantrum risks years of careful work to build a stronger US-India partnership," Meeks, the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, posted on social media platform X on Friday. "We have deep strategic, economic, and people-to-people ties. Concerns should be addressed in a mutually respectful way consistent with our democratic values," he said. US' former National Security Advisor John Bolton has also warned that Trump's tariff policy could have the opposite effect of what it intends and may push India closer to Russia and China in the coming time. "The irony here is that while the secondary tariffs against India are intended to hurt Russia, it could push India back closer to Russia and China, perhaps negotiating together against the US tariff efforts," Bolton told CNN. Bolton said that Trump's moves have "put in jeopardy the decades of American effort" done to bring New Delhi and Washington closer. The Trump administration has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods entering the US. On July 31, Trump signed an Executive Order titled 'Further Modifying The Reciprocal Tariff Rates', imposing a 25 per cent tariff on India. Later, he announced an additional 25 per cent tariff, raising it to 50 per cent. Notably, after the new levy, India will attract the highest tariff of 50 per cent along with Brazil. The US claimed that the tariff was a 'penalty' for New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. In a strong response, New Delhi called out the Trump administration for singling out India, despite the fact that several countries, including China, Turkey, the European Union, and the US itself, engage in trade with Russia. India said that the actions are "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable."
