"Risks Years Of Work": US Senator Slams Donald Trump Over 50% Tariff On India

NDTV

08-08-2025

Washington:
Senior US Congressman Gregory Meeks has slammed President Donald Trump for his punitive tariffs against India over its import of Russian oil. Senator Gregory Meeks, a Democrat, said the US President's latest "tariff tantrum" risks over two decades of careful work to build a strong partnership between Washington and New Delhi.
"We have deep strategic, economic, and people-to-people ties. Concerns should be addressed in a mutually respectful way consistent with our democratic values," he said, according to the House committee responsible for foreign policy legislation.
RM @RepGregoryMeeks: Trump's latest tariff tantrum risks years of careful work to build a stronger US-India partnership.
We have deep strategic, economic, and people-to-people ties. Concerns should be addressed in a mutually respectful way consistent with our democratic values. https://t.co/T2GTZGKYAS
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Dems (@HouseForeign) August 7, 2025
Putting a strain on India-US ties-- built painstakingly over two decades by bipartisan effort-- Trump last month imposed a baseline 25 per cent tariff on New Delhi and halted trade negotiations, while giving China another extension -- the irony of treatment given to "friend" and rival not lost on New Delhi.
On August 4, he announced an additional 25 per cent tariff and warned he would impose secondary penalties on India's oil purchases from Russia.
Not surprisingly, New Delhi views Trump's move as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable." The Foreign Ministry has said that the government will take "all actions necessary to protect its national interests."
Trump's Tariffs
Trump's steeper global tariffs came into effect on Thursday, leaving dozens of US partners scrambling to secure relief from soaring levies that are rewriting global trade practice. Shortly before the new rates kicked in, Washington also slapped semiconductor imports with a 100-per-cent duty.
Trump's trade policy is a demonstration of economic power that he hopes will revive domestic manufacturing, but many economists fear it could fuel inflation and lower growth. His "reciprocal" duties -- a response to trade practices Washington deems unfair -- broaden measures imposed since he returned to the presidency.
In his latest move, the president raised import duties from 10 per cent to levels between 15 per cent and 41 per cent for various trading partners. Many products from the European Union, Japan and South Korea now face a 15 per cent tariff, even with deals struck with Washington to avert steeper threatened levies.
But questions remain surrounding the implementation of these agreements.
But providing some reprieve from the "reciprocal" tariff hike is a clause saying that goods already en route to the United States before Thursday -- and arriving before October 5 -- will not face the new rates.
But, Georgetown University professor Marc Busch expects US businesses to "pass along more of the tariff bill" to consumers.
"Inventories are depleting, and it is unlikely firms will absorb costs indefinitely," he told news agency AFP.
Trump is using tariffs to pursue a variety of goals -- such as doubling planned duties on India due to its purchase of Russian oil, a key revenue source in Moscow's war in Ukraine. The order threatened penalties on countries that "directly or indirectly" import Russian oil, too.
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations called the move a "severe setback" impacting nearly 55 per cent of shipments to the United States.