WASHINGTON, DC — After announcing steep new tariffs on Indian imports, President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of India’s economic ties with Russia, dismissing both nations as “dead economies” in a post on Truth Social.

“I don’t care what India does with Russia,” Trump wrote late on July 30. “They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India. Their tariffs are too high — among the highest in the world.”

The remarks followed Trump’s declaration that a 25% tariff on Indian goods would take effect July 31, part of a broader rebuke over New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian energy and military equipment despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.

While Trump insisted the U.S. has minimal economic ties with either country, India remains one of America’s largest trading partners, with nearly $90 billion in goods imported in 2024. India also recently overtook China as the top source of smartphone imports into the U.S., with Apple signaling that most iPhones sold in the country will soon be made in India.

In Parliament, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal responded indirectly to Trump’s comments, highlighting India’s rise on the global economic stage.

“India came out of the ‘Fragile Five’ economies in less than a decade and is now the fastest-growing economy in the world,” Goyal said in the Lok Sabha. “It is expected that we will become the third-largest economy in a few years. Global institutions see India as a bright spot.”

Though Trump later hinted that trade talks with India were continuing, his comments marked one of his most pointed attacks on a nation long viewed by U.S. policymakers as a key Asian counterbalance to China.

@India-West News Desk