Key Points

In response to ANI, if the US remains open to negotiating with India on the tariff front, Trump stated, "We're talking to them now. We'll see what happens. Again, India was the highest or just about the highest tariff nation in the world, one of the highest, 100 points, 150 points or percentages. So India was one of the highest in the world. They had 175 per cent and higher than that."

He made the comments during a press conference at the White House, held to mark the signing of a Congressional bill.

Earlier today, Trump, taking to Truth Social, announced a 25 per cent tariff on India in addition to a penalty for buying Russian oil. The tariffs will be imposed starting August 1, he further stated.

"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," Trump stated in his post.

"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! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST 1st. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!" the post added.

The US President, during the conference, further clarified the terms of the penalties imposed on India, noting New Delhi was part of the BRICS grouping and calling the alliance "anti-United States." He further accused the alliance of its "attack on the dollar."

"We're negotiating right now, and it's also BRICS. They have BRICS, which is basically a group of countries that are anti-United States, and India is a member of that, if you can believe it. It's an attack on the dollar, and we're not going to let anybody attack the dollar. It's partially BRICS, and it's partially the trade. This trade situation is a deficit. We had a tremendous deficit," Trump stated.

He emphasised India-US ties, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "friend," while noting the US trade deficit with India. He further noted that it "doesn't matter too much" if the India-US deal reaches a certain tariff.

"As you know, Prime Minister Modi is a friend of mine, but they don't do very much business in terms of business with us. They sell a lot to us, but we don't buy from them. You know why? Because the tariff is so high. They have one of the highest tariffs in the world. Now they're willing to cut it very substantially. But we'll see what happens. We're talking to India now," the US President said.

"We'll see what happens. It doesn't matter too much whether we have a deal or whether we charge them a certain tariff. But you'll know at the end of this week. August 1st is a very big day for this country because money is going to pour into the United States like we've never seen before," he added.

This announcement follows an earlier move on April 22, when Trump imposed a 26 per cent tariff on Indian goods imported into the US, before later pausing those "reciprocal" levies.

- ANI