President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. would impose a 25% tariff on imports from India, slamming what he called the South Asian country’s “obnoxious” trade barriers and purchases of Russian military equipment and energy while the war in Ukraine stretches into a fourth year.
“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, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday. “Also, 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 — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!”
In a follow-up post, Trump added, “WE HAVE A MASSIVE TRADE DEFICIT WITH INDIA!!!”
The U.S. goods trade deficit with India was $45.7 billion in 2024, representing a 5.4% increase over 2023, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
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In 2024, U.S. total goods trade with India came to an estimated $129.2 billion. According to the representative’s office, U.S. goods exports to India were $41.8 billion last year, up 3.4% from 2023. U.S. goods imports from India totaled $87.4 billion in 2024, representing a 4.5% increase over the previous year.
Trump said Aug. 1 would be the “hard deadline” for unleashing sweeping “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs against nations that do not cut a sufficient deal with the U.S. He initially coined April 2 “Liberation Day” for the sweeping tariffs plan but paused implementation for 90 days to allow negotiations to continue.
The president, meanwhile, is under pressure to deliver on his campaign promise of ending the Russia-Ukraine war. On Tuesday, he issued Russian leader Vladimir Putin a 10-day deadline to stop the fighting.
Despite India being a member of the “Quad” alliance with the U.S., Japan and Australia to counter Chinese operations in the region, New Delhi has long relied on the Russians for the country’s weapons equipment. India has recently expressed interest in diversifying its portfolio with more defense purchases from the U.S., France and Israel.
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Western sanctions stifled supply chains in the wake of the February 2022 Russia invasion of Ukraine.
The Trump administration has expressed that deepening U.S. ties with India would be strategically important to countering China.
In February, Trump welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House as one of the first world leaders to arrive to kick-start trade talks. Modi voiced an ambitious goal of increasing bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, as the Trump administration angled to lower the nearly $50 billion U.S. deficit with India by ramping up U.S. energy exports to the country.
Trump and Modi also announced plans to increase the sales of U.S. defense systems to India over the next 10 years, including F-35 stealth fighter jets.
The White House said in a statement that the framework of the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership also involved the two leaders pledging “to elevate military cooperation across all domains — air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace – through enhanced training, exercises, and operations, incorporating the latest technologies.” The statement said Trump and Modi also “committed to break new ground to support and sustain the overseas deployments of the U.S. and Indian militaries in the Indo-Pacific, including enhanced logistics and intelligence sharing.”
Vice President JD Vance met with Modi during a four-day visit to India in April, and at the time praised the progress reached during the ongoing trade talks. Vance criticized past U.S. administrations for finding a cheap source of labor in India and said increased cooperation between the two countries would lead to a “peaceful and prosperous” 21st century. The alternative, Vance warned at the time, would be a “dark time for all humanity.”
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