U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that the United States is currently negotiating with India, after announcing earlier in the day that Washington will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from the country starting August 1.
"They have one of the highest tariffs in the world now, they're willing to cut it very substantially. But we'll see what happens," Trump told reporters. "We are negotiating right now and it's also BRICS. BRICS, which is basically a group of countries that are anti the United States and India is a member of that...It is an attack on the dollar and we are not going to let anybody attack the dollar. So it's partially BRICS and it's partially trade...We had a tremendous deficit.”
The United States will impose a 25% tariff on goods from India, plus an additional import tax because of India’s purchasing of Russian oil, President Donald Trump said Wednesday.
India “is our friend,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, but its tariffs on U.S. products “are far too high.”
The Republican president added India buys military equipment and oil from Russia, enabling Moscow's war in Ukraine. As a result, he intends to charge an additional “penalty” starting on Friday as part of the launch of his administration’s revised tariffs on multiple countries.
CONTENTIOUS ISSUES
U.S. and Indian negotiators have held multiple rounds of discussions to resolve contentious issues, particularly over market access into India for U.S. 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.
"The government will take all steps necessary to secure our national interest, as has been the case with other trade agreements," it said.
The setback comes despite earlier commitments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump to conclude the first phase of a trade deal by autumn and expand bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, from $191 billion in 2024. Since India's short but deadly conflict with arch South Asian rival Pakistan, New Delhi has been unhappy about Trump's closeness with Islamabad and has protested, which cast a shadow over trade talks.
"Politically, the relationship is in its toughest spot since the mid-1990s," said Ashok Malik, partner at advisory firm The Asia Group. "Trust has diminished. President Trump's messaging has damaged many years of careful, bipartisan nurturing of the U.S.-India partnership in both capitals."
Besides farm products access, the U.S. had flagged concerns over India's increasingly burdensome import-quality requirements, among its many non-tariff barriers to foreign trade, in a report released in March.
The new tariffs will impact Indian goods exports to the U.S., estimated at around $87 billion in 2024, including labour-intensive products such as garments, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, and petrochemicals.
(with Reuters inputs)
( Originally published on Jul 30, 2025 )
"They have one of the highest tariffs in the world now, they're willing to cut it very substantially. But we'll see what happens," Trump told reporters. "We are negotiating right now and it's also BRICS. BRICS, which is basically a group of countries that are anti the United States and India is a member of that...It is an attack on the dollar and we are not going to let anybody attack the dollar. So it's partially BRICS and it's partially trade...We had a tremendous deficit.”
The United States will impose a 25% tariff on goods from India, plus an additional import tax because of India’s purchasing of Russian oil, President Donald Trump said Wednesday.
India “is our friend,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, but its tariffs on U.S. products “are far too high.”
The Republican president added India buys military equipment and oil from Russia, enabling Moscow's war in Ukraine. As a result, he intends to charge an additional “penalty” starting on Friday as part of the launch of his administration’s revised tariffs on multiple countries.
CONTENTIOUS ISSUES
U.S. and Indian negotiators have held multiple rounds of discussions to resolve contentious issues, particularly over market access into India for U.S. 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.
"The government will take all steps necessary to secure our national interest, as has been the case with other trade agreements," it said.
The setback comes despite earlier commitments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump to conclude the first phase of a trade deal by autumn and expand bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, from $191 billion in 2024. Since India's short but deadly conflict with arch South Asian rival Pakistan, New Delhi has been unhappy about Trump's closeness with Islamabad and has protested, which cast a shadow over trade talks.
"Politically, the relationship is in its toughest spot since the mid-1990s," said Ashok Malik, partner at advisory firm The Asia Group. "Trust has diminished. President Trump's messaging has damaged many years of careful, bipartisan nurturing of the U.S.-India partnership in both capitals."
Besides farm products access, the U.S. had flagged concerns over India's increasingly burdensome import-quality requirements, among its many non-tariff barriers to foreign trade, in a report released in March.
The new tariffs will impact Indian goods exports to the U.S., estimated at around $87 billion in 2024, including labour-intensive products such as garments, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, and petrochemicals.
(with Reuters inputs)
( Originally published on Jul 30, 2025 )
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