Washington
\nThe US will impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from India \u201cplus an unspecified penalty\u201d for buying Russian energy and weapons, President Trump has said.
\nIn a post on his Truth Social platform, he said the measures would take effect from from 1 August, the US deadline for a trade deal. He described India as a friend whose \u201ctariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world\u201d.
\nHe also criticised India\u2019s purchases of Russian military equipment and energy \u201cwhen everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE\u201d.
\nThere was no immediate response from India, which has been negotiating a trade deal with the US for months. Last year, the US had a trade deficit of $45.8bn (\u00a326.1bn) with India.
\nBack in April, Trump had announced tariffs of up to 27% on Indian goods, which were later paused. This Friday is the latest deadline for India and other countries to either reach a trade agreement or face increased tariffs.
\nTariffs are taxes charged on goods imported from other countries. The US president has repeatedly taken aim at India\u2019s high tariffs, branding it a \u201ctariff king\u201d and a \u201cbig abuser\u201d of trade ties.
\n\u201cBut now I\u2019m in charge, and you just can\u2019t do that,\u201d he said earlier on Tuesday.
\nSince April, both sides have been racing to negotiate an agreement, with officials sometimes sounding positive and at other times, measured.
\n\u201cWe continue to speak with our Indian counterparts. We\u2019ve always had very constructive discussions with them,\u201d US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said earlier this week.
\nHe also acknowledged that although he had earlier said a deal with India might be \u201cimminent\u201d, it needed to be understood that Delhi\u2019s trade policy has been \u201cprotectionist for a very long time\u201d and has been \u201cpremised on strongly protecting their domestic market\u201d.
\nGreer added that Trump has been focused on securing deals that substantially open other markets to the US.
\nAgriculture and dairy are among the key sticking points for both countries.
\nFor years, Washington has pushed for greater access to India\u2019s farm sector, seeing it as a major untapped market. But India has fiercely protected it, citing food security, livelihoods and the interests of millions of small farmers.
\nLast week, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told CNBC that the agriculture sector is sensitive for India and that it will make sure that farmers\u2019 interests are \u201cwell protected\u201d.
\nGoyal also told news agencies that India remains \u201coptimistic\u201d about striking a deal with Washington soon.
\nSpeaking to Reuters, he said that India was making \u201cfantastic progress\u201d in talks with the US and that he hoped they were able to \u201cconclude a very consequential partnership\u201d.
\nUntil recently, the US was India\u2019s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn in 2024. Trump and Modi have set a target to more than double this figure to $500bn.
\nIndia has already reduced tariffs on a range of goods – including Bourbon whiskey and motorcycles – but the US continues to run a $45bn (\u00a333bn) trade deficit with India, which Trump is keen to reduce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington The US will impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from India \u201cplus an unspecified penalty\u201d for buying Russian energy and weapons, President Trump has said. In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said the measures would take effect from from 1 August, the US deadline for a trade deal. He described India […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493850,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-493837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n