US President Donald Trump on Monday called the India-US trade a “disaster” and one-sided, and claimed that India has offered to cut its import taxes on American goods to “nothing”. But, he said, it was “getting late” for that now.
The Indian government had not yet responded to his claim, apparently about the stalled talks between the two sides for a trade deal.
This come barely a week after US treasury secretary Scott Bessent argued that the high tariffs rates on India are “not just over [India’s purchase of] Russian oil”, but also over how long-drawn the talks for a trade deal have been.
Trump said in his post on Truth Social: “What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us.”
He added, “The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high tariffs… that our businesses are unable to sell into India. It has been a totally one sided disaster!” he further wrote.
He noted that India buys “most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the US”, referring again to a factor (particularly crude oil) that he has cited for the 25% “penalty” part of the total 50% tariffs imposed on most Indian products.
He claimed in his post: “They (India) have now offered to cut their tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago,” and said he was offering “some simple facts for people to ponder”.
In 2024, the India imported US goods worth $41.5 billion, while its exported worth $87.3 billion to the US. This meant a trade surplus of $45.8 billion in India’s favour, as per data shared the US Trade Representative.
In the first six months of 2025, Indian exports to the US were at $56.3 billon, while it imported good worth $22.1 billion.
Trump is apparently incensed by this gap as he claims US goods are taxed too heavily by India. There are reports that he may actually be upset also because India has not agreed with his claim that he “made it stop” its Operation Sindoor military action against Pakistan in May.
Amid many reasons, stated and speculated, the tariffs on Indian goods going to the US hit 50% near the end of last month, three weeks after 25% came into effect.
These tariffs affect, in particular, labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, footwear and leather goods, besides shrimp and other products. Some sectors like pharmaceuticals and electronics have largely been exempted, for now.
Forecasts suggest Indian exports to the US may decline dramatically —from around $87 billion in 2024 to about $50 billion by 2026 — with a potential GDP impact of about 1% and significant job losses.
