Why Trump's 'cowboy' tactics won't work on Bharat—and will hurt American interests

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4 days ago

History has long been Trump's blind spot. Bharat has endured—and resisted—the harshest of sanctions, but what stings more are the president's repeated public jabs read more
The relationship between two eminent democracies cannot be hijacked by a leader's ego. After all, Bharat-US ties are bigger than Donald Trump. Representational image
The Bharat–United States relationship has always been a rollercoaster—one decade up, the next down, and sometimes both in the same decade. But never since the Nixon–Kissinger era have ties been in such chaotic, freefalling disarray. Even during the Bill Clinton years, when Washington imposed sanctions after the 1999 Pokhran nuclear tests, the breach was neither as deep nor the distrust so widespread.
Donald Trump's diplomacy—if it can still be called that—has turned 'cowboyish' in the worst sense: erratic, irrational, and impulsive. The latest tariffs on Bharat are a case in point. Washington trades freely with the world's largest buyer of Russian oil, yet it is Delhi that gets slapped with an additional 25 per cent tariff. A leading mobile company is threatened with dire consequences, but when its CEO prostrates himself before Trump, with a 24k gold offering, all's forgiven. An East Asian nation is granted a tariff deal only when it promises to deliver headline-grabbing gifts and concessions to Washington. These are not the signs of a rule-based economy by any stretch of the imagination.
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One can understand why Trump seeks to dismantle the free-trade order the US itself built after World War II. American unease is growing as its economic primacy wavers, especially amid the 'rise of the rest'. The dollar-based system once ensured its dominance; now it shows cracks. In true 'run-with-the-hare, hunt-with-the-hounds' fashion, Washington wants to replace its own system the moment it ceases to serve American interests.
But in doing so, the US has pressed the self-destruct button. Its strategic priority should have been to build a coalition against a rising China—the most serious challenger to Pax Americana. Instead, it has alienated potential allies like Bharat and Russia. The blame cannot rest on Trump alone—former President Joe Biden also deepened the rift by pushing Russia further into China's embrace and reportedly backing covert attempts at regime change in Bharat. Many in Delhi hoped these storms would pass with Trump's return to the White House.
Sadly, the new president opened new fronts for Bharat.
Tariffs and Taunts
What has stung Bharat most is not merely Trump's tariffs but his repeated public jabs. He has distorted facts about Kashmir, claimed more than 30 times to have mediated after Operation Sindoor, called Bharat a 'dead economy', and insisted the US does 'very little business' with it.
The truth is starkly different. The US is Bharat's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year, with bilateral trade in 2024-25 valued at $131.84 billion. Bharat's exports to the US rose 11.6 per cent in the past year to $86.51 billion. Under 'Mission 500', both sides aim to double trade to $500 billion by 2030. Defence trade already exceeds $21 billion, and Bharat is now a major US defence partner.
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Trump's 'tariff king' label is equally misleading. Bharat's average applied tariff is about 16 per cent—comparable to Turkey's and lower than Argentina's—with a weighted average of just 4.6 per cent, suggesting a far more open trade regime than he claims. (In fact, Bharat's weighted average compares favourably with the European Union [5 per cent], Vietnam [5.1 per cent], and Indonesia [5.7 per cent].) Nor is Bharat the largest buyer of Russian oil—it ranks second, far behind China's $219.5 billion worth of Russian energy imports since the EU boycott. Yet Beijing faces no comparable tariff penalties. Tellingly, Trump exempted Bharatiya refined fuels from his latest hikes, underscoring the selective and political nature of the sanctions.
Bharat's Attempt at a Deal
All this while, Delhi did not sit idle. According to Reuters, Bharat offered zero tariffs on industrial goods (40 per cent of US exports to Bharat), phased reductions on cars and alcohol, and increased defence and energy purchases. Most differences were resolved after the fifth negotiation round in Washington, and US negotiators reportedly considered the deal 'done'.
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But Trump wanted more—specifically, a high-profile concession package akin to the one he extracted from South Korea: Seoul secured a 15 per cent rate instead of 25 per cent by offering $350 billion in investments, higher energy imports, and concessions on rice and beef.
For Bharat, such demands—touching politically sensitive sectors like farming and dairy—were impossible to meet. Modi, though pro-America, is first and foremost pro-Bharat. He refused to compromise millions of livelihoods for Trump's domestic optics.
The rupture is not about tariffs alone. It is about style, respect, and trust. Trump tried to make an example of Bharat, assuming Modi would 'beg' for a deal—a fundamental misreading of both the man and the nation. Many in the country, including this writer, initially believed tariff cuts could benefit Bharat's competitiveness. But tariffs cannot be used as an excuse for coercion or humiliation. Delhi seeks partnership, not subservience.
In this, Trump has failed to read history: Bharat has endured—and resisted—the worst of sanctions. It did not bend in the early 1970s when its economy was fragile, nor in the late 1990s when sanctions came not just from America but several others, including Japan. There is no question of retreat in the mid-2020s. The Bharat of 2025 is far stronger and more self-assured than the Bharat of 1971 or 1999.
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But history has always been Trump's blind spot.
New World Order
The damage extends far beyond bilateral ties. The US and Bharat are the world's oldest and largest democracies. Together, they could have anchored a coalition to defend the liberal world order and balance an increasingly assertive, authoritarian, and hegemonistic China. Alienating Bharat while exempting China from similar penalties undermines Washington's credibility and signals unreliability.
That perception could push Delhi towards new alignments—even if some are ideologically unpalatable. The consequences are already visible. Following the imposition of secondary tariffs on Bharat, the Chinese ambassador in Delhi publicly reminded Trump that Bharat's sovereignty was 'non-negotiable'. Soon after, reports emerged that Modi may be visiting China later this month—a first since 2019. At the same time, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was in Moscow meeting President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, countries such as Brazil and South Africa have begun hinting at a shift towards a new world order.
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Repairing the breach will require more than a tariff adjustment. It will demand a change in tone, recognition of Bharat as an equal partner, and a willingness to resolve disagreements without public grandstanding. For Washington, this means abandoning the 'my way or the highway' approach and respecting Bharat's domestic political realities. For Delhi, it means being prepared to lower certain tariff walls without sacrificing its core interests.
The relationship between two eminent democracies cannot be hijacked by a leader's ego. After all, Bharat-US ties are bigger than Donald Trump.
Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.