India-US Tariff Row: In one of the sharpest rebukes yet from within the United States, senior lawmaker Gregory Meeks has openly criticised United States President
Donald 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. Meeks asserted that Trump's latest decision to impose steep tariffs on India could undermine decades of work to strengthen ties between the two democracies, adding that the two countries share a strong strategic and economic connection. "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.
Earlier, US' former National Security Advisor John Bolton 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.
Notably, India and the US are strategic partners and have been negotiating a trade deal in order to double the bilateral trade in goods and services to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion. However, Trump on Friday said that the two countries will not engage in trade negotiations until the tariff dispute is resolved.
Trump was asked, "Just to follow up on India's tariff, do you expect increased trade negotiations since you have announced the 50% tariffs?". On this, the US President told ANI, "No, not until we get it resolved.
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."
