Trump slaps India with 25% tariff — in an attempt to influence Russia

President Donald Trump issued a forceful statement announcing high tariffs on the country of India and offered his rationale for the punishing trade tax.

The president celebrated a recent report declaring that the tariffs had brought in $150 billion in government revenue in just a few months of increased tariffs on many U.S. trade partners. On Wednesday, he hit India with one of the larger tariff burdens.

'Their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country.'

"Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country," the president wrote on Truth Social.

"Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!" he added.

"INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST," he concluded.

The U.S. purchases $87.4 billion of goods from India, while it sells $41.8 billion in goods to India. This makes India the 10th largest trade partner for the U.S., while the U.S. is the top trading partner for India, which gives Trump a lot of leverage in tariff negotiations.

Economic expert and Blaze Media contributor Carol Roth said in a comment to Blaze News that the administration seems to have many different motives driving tariff negotiations.

"It appears that the administration wants to make more rapid progress on trade, and where discussions or negotiations have stalled out, putting out a larger number has worked in many cases to pressure the counterparty to come back to the table," Roth wrote.

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"There also seems to be a focus on putting pressure on India's economic relationship with Russia that the administration is trying to both telegraph and ultimately to work on lessening the interdependence between those nations, particularly when it comes to energy and defense products," she added.

Amit Basole, an economics professor at Azim Premji University in India, said a trade deal with the U.S. was "crucial" for India.

"India is a large country, but its purchasing power is not very high," Basole said. "We need jobs very badly, particularly in manufacturing and more productive sectors. Indian companies need export markets to grow and create these jobs."

"WE HAVE A MASSIVE TRADE DEFICIT WITH INDIA!!!" Trump added in another post.

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