US President Donald Trump says India has offered to cut its tariffs to nothing even as he called the current trade stalemate with the country a totally one sided disaster. US tariffs of 50% on goods from India - which includes 25% penalty for Delhi's refusal to stop buying oil from Russia - took effect last week.
India has not responded to Trump's latest comment but such a war of words over Russian oil has caused Delhi-Washington ties to hit an all-time low. Trump's comment coincides with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Washington claims Delhi has been indirectly funding Russia's war in Ukraine. India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the US, Trump wrote, adding Delhi should have cut tariffs years ago.
Delhi has previously stated that oil supply from Russia is vital to meet the energy needs of its vast population and called the tariffs unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India's commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, declared that India will neither bow down nor ever appear weak in its economic relationships.
Trump's remarks point to a significant trade imbalance, stating, 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. The tariffs and trade discussions are poised to affect exports and growth in India, the world's fifth largest economy.
At the SCO summit, Modi was observed engaging positively with Putin, following which he shared a picture of their interaction on social media. The SCO, consisting of major countries including China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia, is viewed as a collective challenge to US dominance.
