U.S. President Donald Trump launched a fresh tirade against India and Russia, criticising their growing partnership and calling their economies “dead”, while announcing steep new trade measures targeting New Delhi.
In a statement posted on social media, Trump said, “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.”
His remarks followed the imposition of a 25% tariff on all Indian goods, effective August 1, along with an unspecified penalty for India’s continued trade with Russia, particularly in crude oil and military equipment.
The sharp rhetoric comes just a day after Indian officials revealed plans for a U.S. trade delegation to visit New Delhi on August 25 to negotiate a trade deal—talks now clouded by Trump’s unexpected announcement.
Justifying the move, Trump accused India of maintaining excessively high tariffs and trade barriers.
“Their tariffs are too high—among the highest in the world. We’ve done relatively little business with India because of their strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers,” he said.
India, he added, has been making significant purchases from Russia, especially after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, citing the increase in Russian oil imports from 0.2% to nearly 40% of India’s total crude intake.
He also highlighted India’s continued imports of Russian military hardware, noting that India is now the first country to face a penalty for Russian trade under his policy shift.
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While calling India a “friend”, Trump maintained that “all things are not good” with regard to its trade policies and alignment with Russia.
The tariff and penalty, he asserted, were necessary to pressure New Delhi and align it more closely with U.S. trade and geopolitical interests.
The move is widely seen as a hardline tactic to force India to reconsider its economic ties with Russia amid increasing global pressure on Moscow to end its aggression in Ukraine.
It also follows a series of trade wins for the U.S. under Trump’s leadership with countries such as the UK, Japan, and the European Union.
