India-US Trade Deal: Donald Trump Slaps 25 Percent Tariffs on "Friend" India

Even as he called India “our friend,” US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to impose a 25 percent tariff on India’s exports starting Friday after the negotiations had apparently stalled.

"India will be paying a tariff of 25 percent" starting on August 1, Trump posted on Truth Social. He said that India would also face an additional tariff penalty for buying Russian energy. Trump had set the penalty, known as secondary tariffs, across the board at 100 percent for all who are buying Russian energy if Moscow did not reach a ceasefire with Ukraine.

He shortened the deadline for that to ten days from Tuesday, setting it at August 7. The threat to India may serve as a negotiating tactic aimed at compelling the country to reach an agreement, especially after he and his officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, expressed optimism that India would be one of the first to finalize a deal.

India was among the first countries to start trade negotiations with Washington on tariffs, and Trump had repeatedly said that an agreement was imminent, most recently last week.

India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said last week in a media interview in London that the negotiations were making "fantastic" progress, adding, "I do hope we'll be able to conclude a very consequential partnership." However, despite negotiators striving to meet the August 1 deadline for tariff agreements, the negotiations remain unfinished.

According to various reports, India and the US had been expected to announce an interim deal before the August 1 deadline, with a more comprehensive bilateral trade agreement to be completed, possibly in time for Trump’s visit to India to participate in the Quad summit later this year.

Trump said in his post, "Remember, 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".He accused India of having "the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country".

"They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE, Trump added.

"ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST," he further wrote before signing off with “MAGA” (Make America Great Again).

The US has demanded zero tariffs on its exports, and most countries and the EU that have made a deal have agreed. One of the sticking points in the negotiations with India is the opening of Indian markets to US agricultural products, which would affect India’s farm sector, the largest in the country.

In recently announced deals, the US set the tariffs at 15 percent with Japan and the European Union and, with the Philippines and Indonesia, at 19 percent. Trump had already announced unilateral tariffs of 35 percent for Bangladesh, 36 percent for Thailand, and 25 percent for Malaysia if there’s no deal before August 1.

Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by the Sakshi Post team and is auto-generated from syndicated feed.