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Trump's remarks came after PM Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin at the SCO Summit in China amid tensions over US tariff hike.
US President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his tariff rhetoric, saying that trade with India has been a “totally one-sided disaster". He claimed India had offered to reduce its tariffs to “nothing", but warned that it was “getting late".
His remarks came in the backdrop of deteriorating ties between India and the United States over Trump’s 50% tariffs on Indian imports over Russian oil purchases, and after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“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," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high Tariffs, the most of any country, that our businesses are unable to sell into India. It has been a totally one sided disaster! Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the US. They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago," he added.
Trump’s remarks came at a time of uncertainty in India-US trade talks, especially after the sixth round of trade negotiations were called off. The two countries have conducted five rounds of negotiations so far, with access to India’s agriculture and livestock sectors appearing to be one of the major areas of contention.
Even as India was one of the first countries to approach Trump over a trade deal since he took office, Trump went ahead and imposed 50% tariffs on Indian imports while talks were underway, citing New Delhi’s oil purchases as a reason. India had defended its purchases from Russia, which accounted for 35% of its supply in the first half of 2025, on economic grounds, and had criticised the US and the European Union for singling out New Delhi over its Russian oil purchases.
The Trump administration’s steep tariff hikes on Indian goods have drawn criticism in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin has drawn attention to the shifting equations in Asia, with his interactions with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin seen as a signal of growing closeness among the three nations.
Putin and Modi were seen walking hand-in-hand, smiling as they approached Xi ahead of the summit’s opening. The trio stood side by side, laughing and accompanied by interpreters – a clear display of unity in the face of mounting pressure from the United States.
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