India offered zero tariffs but it’s getting late: Trump

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday that India has offered to reduce its
tariffs on US goods to zero, even as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making public shows of solidarity with Chinese and Russian leaders in the face of trade pressure from Washington.

Read more: Trump says India is a ‘dead economy’, Rahul agrees

While calling the US relationship with India “one sided”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago.”

Read more: India gets another 25pc US tariff over Russian oil purchases

The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Trump’s comments, which follow the implementation of total duties as high as 50 per cent on Indian goods that have raised questions
about the future of the US-India relationship.

Trump’s remark came as Modi was in China for a summit of more than 20 leaders of non-Western countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a China-backed initiative given renewed impetus by Trump’s global tariff offensive.

Read more: SCO committed to combating terrorism, separatism, extremism

At the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed his vision for a new global security and economic order that prioritizes the “Global South,” in a direct challenge to the US.

RUSSIAN OIL

The US-India relationship has strengthened in recent years, including during Trump’s first term, given shared concerns about China’s growing power, but Trump threatened the tariffs on India after it refused to stop buying Russian oil in defiance of his efforts to end Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

In China, in an image designed to convey solidarity, Putin and Modi were shown holding hands as they walked jovially toward Xi before the summit opened. The three men stood shoulder-to-shoulder, laughing and surrounded by interpreters.

Read more: US tariffs to hit India from Wednesday, impacting $87bn exports

Beijing has used the summit to mend ties with New Delhi. Modi, visiting China for the first time in seven years, and Xi agreed on Sunday their countries are development partners, not rivals, and discussed ways to improve trade.

The US State Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the meetings in China.