US Democrat slams Trump over 50% tariff on India, says risks years of work

Prominent US Congressman and Democrat Gregory Meeks said the US has deep economic, and people-to-people ties with India, and trade concerns should be addressed in a mutually respectful way

Gregory Meeks, a prominent US Congressman, on Thursday (local time), criticised US President Donald Trump’s “latest tariff tantrum” on India, adding that such a move risks years of work to build a stronger US-India partnership.

 

Representative Gregory Meeks, a Democrat and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Dems said the US has deep strategic, economic, and people-to-people ties with India, and [bilateral trade] concerns should be addressed in a mutually respectful way consistent with our democratic values.

 

Meeks’ remarks come a day after the first tranche of 25 per cent of Trump’s tariffs came into effect. The second tranche would come into effect on August 27. 

 

 

Trump, on Wednesday, signed an executive order and levied an additional 25 per cent tariff on India for its continuous oil purchases from Russia, at a time when Moscow’s conflict with Ukraine is not ending. Trump also indicated at levying secondary sanctions on all countries buying Russian oil, including China. 

 

Trump imposes a 50 per cent tariff on India 

On July 30, two days before the deadline for tariff talks ended, Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, bringing it down from 26 per cent, which was imposed on April 2. In a post on Truth Social, his private social media platform, Trump shared the announcement.

 

He also doubled down on India and Russia, calling them “dead economies”. In a post on Truth Social, he said, “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India; their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world.” 

 

India slams US tariffs as unfair, unjustified

 

After Trump signed an executive order levying another 25 per cent tariff on India, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) released a statement, calling the order “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”. It further added that New Delhi would take “all actions necessary to protect its national interests.”

 

“The United States has in recent days targeted India’s oil imports from Russia,” the MEA said. “We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India.”