President Trump stood by the steep tariffs he imposed on India as a penalty for purchasing Russian oil, as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in a show of deepening ties with the Kremlin.
In a put up on his Reality Social platform, Trump reiterated his considerations about what he characterised as a commerce imbalance, calling the connection between the U.S. and India “a totally one sided disaster!”
“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 – Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades,” Trump wrote in his put up Monday morning.
“The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high Tariffs, the most of any country, that our businesses are unable to sell into India. It has been a totally one sided disaster!” he continued. “Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S.”
The import tax on Indian items elevated to 50 p.c on Wednesday, after the implementation of Trump’s extra 25 p.c tariff imposed as a penalty for oil purchases that Trump argues are serving to gas Moscow’s struggle efforts in Ukraine. India already confronted a 25 p.c “reciprocal” tariff on exports to the U.S.
India has defended shopping for Russian oil, which it has described as financially obligatory to satisfy the power wants in its populous nation.
“They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago. Just some simple facts for people to ponder!!!” Trump mentioned in his put up.
Some analysts have mentioned Trump’s steep tariffs and his souring perspective towards Modi have inadvertently led India to hunt nearer ties with Russia and China. Modi met with Chinese language President Xi Jinping on Sunday.
Simply after Trump introduced he would improve the tariff on New Delhi to 50 p.c, Modi mentioned that he held a “very good and detailed conversation” with “my friend” Putin.
On Monday, Putin and Modi met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Group (SCO) within the port metropolis of Tianjin, China, the place discussions centered on regional stability, bilateral commerce and power cooperation.
In remarks at first of their talks, Modi known as his partnership with Moscow “special and privileged,” and Putin addressed Modi as a “dear friend” and praised the connection as particular, pleasant and trusting.
“Russia and India have maintained special relations for decades. Friendly, trusting. This is the foundation for the development of our relations in the future,” Putin mentioned. “These relations are absolutely non-partisan in nature, supported by the overwhelming majority of the peoples of our countries.”
The Related Press contributed.
