President Trump announced Wednesday morning that imports from India into the United States would be subject to a 25 percent tariff as of Friday, as he berated the country over trade barriers and its purchases of energy and military equipment from Russia.
A 25 percent tariff would be just one percentage point lower than what the president threatened India with on April 2, when he announced plans for sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries. It’s also significantly higher than the rates Mr. Trump has settled on for other Asian nations like Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan — all of which have been 20 percent or less.
In recent years, some companies have been moving factories out of China to India, making it a base of production for electronics, pharmaceuticals and other products for the U.S. market. Industry analysis shows that this year India is making more smartphones than China, or any other country. But if a 25 percent tariff were to apply long term, that could encourage businesses to set up export operations in other Asian countries instead.
“WE HAVE A MASSIVE TRADE DEFICIT WITH INDIA,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. He followed quickly with another post, saying that the United States had done “relatively little business” with India over the years “because their Tariffs are far too high.”
Mr. Trump also criticized India’s economic ties with Moscow, saying it was “Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE.”
The announcement comes as the Trump administration prepares to finalize higher tariffs on many countries globally as of Friday. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump wrote that the deadline “STANDS STRONG, AND WILL NOT BE EXTENDED.”
Mr. Trump’s announcement seemed to deliver the worst news possible for the future of the relationship between the two nations. India is a major commercial partner of the United States, with total trade between the two countries amounting to roughly $130 billion last year. The countries also have deep cultural and demographic ties.
The announcement came as somewhat of a surprise, given the generally warm relationship between Mr. Trump and India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and signs in recent weeks that the countries seemed close to clinching a trade deal.
But those talks appear to have hit obstacles, including Mr. Trump’s desire for India to open up its agricultural and dairy markets, and to retain a relatively high tariff on Indian goods even under a trade agreement.
Mr. Modi also appears to be under pressure domestically not to be seen as caving to Mr. Trump. The prime minister is in the midst of a parliamentary session during which he has faced criticism for another Trump-related matter. Much to the embarrassment of Mr. Modi, Mr. Trump has repeatedly insisted that it was his use of trade leverage that got India and Pakistan to agree to a cease-fire in their spring conflict, rather than India’s military operations.
Mr. Trump’s announcement that India would pay a penalty tariff for its purchases of Russian oil would be the first use of the so-called secondary tariffs that he has threatened to impose on countries for dealing with embargoed nations. Mr. Trump has been moving to replace some of the traditional sanctions tools in the U.S. arsenal with an expanded use of trade measures.
Alan Rappeport, Alex Travelli and Mujib Mashal contributed reporting.
Ana Swanson covers trade and international economics for The Times and is based in Washington. She has been a journalist for more than a decade.
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