Donald Trump says he will impose 25 percent tariff on ‘our friend’ India

Washington: Even as he called India “our friend”, US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to impose a 25 percent tariff on India’s exports starting Friday after the negotiations have apparently stalled. “India will be paying a tariff of 25 per cent” starting on August 1, Trump posted on Truth Social. He said that India would also face an additional tariff penalty for buying Russian energy.

Trump had set the penalty, known as secondary tariffs, across the board at 100 per cent for all who are buying Russian energy if Moscow did not reach a ceasefire with Ukraine. He shortened the deadline for that to ten days from Tuesday, setting it at August 7.

The threat to India could be a negotiating tactic to force India to reach an agreement after he and his officials, like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, had spoken optimistically that India would be among the first to make a deal.

India was among the first countries to start trade negotiations with Washington on tariffs, and Trump had repeatedly said that an agreement was imminent, most recently last week.

India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said last week in a media interview in London that the negotiations were making “fantastic” progress, adding, “I do hope we’ll be able to conclude a very consequential partnership”. (IANS)

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