September 4, 2025

Hold onto your hats! Donald Trump did not hold back on India’s trade rules on Wednesday. He said trade between the US and India was not fair. "We get along with India very well. But India, you have to understand, for many years, it was a one-sided relationship," Trump said. He explained how India charged "tremendous tariff," one of the highest in the world.  Trump complained that Indian goods came into the US with low duties, but American companies faced big barriers in India. "We weren’t doing much business with India, but they were doing business with us because we weren’t charging them foolishly," he added. He gave a spicy example of Harley Davidson motorcycles. Due to a shocking 200% tariff, Harley Davidson could not sell easily in India. So, guess what? They built a plant inside India to avoid these taxes! "Same thing as us," Trump said, hinting at similar challenges American companies face. Things got even spicier in August when Trump imposed a steep 25% tariff on Indian goods over India’s Russian oil purchases. This came on top of an earlier 25%, making it a whopping 50% tariff on important sectors like textiles, leather, engineering goods, and chemicals. India and the US have been in trade talks since March, completing five rounds. But after the 50% tariff was slapped, a US team postponed their August visit to India, and the next talks are still waiting for a new date. Despite all this drama, Trump showed some optimism, saying: "Thousands of companies are coming into the US, car companies." India and the US aim to seal the first phase of their trade agreement by fall this year and want to more than double trade from $191 billion now to $500 billion by 2030. Will the fireworks in trade talks turn into a dance party? Time will tell!

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Tags: Donald trump, India-us trade, Tariffs, Harley davidson, Trade talks, Investment,