WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday that India has offered to reduce its tariffs on US goods to zero, even as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making public shows of solidarity with Chinese and Russian leaders in the face of trade pressure from Washington.

While calling the US relationship with India as “one sided”, Trump announced the development on his Truth Social platform. “They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but its getting late,” Trump wrote. “They should have done so years ago.”

The claim comes just a week after the US implemented duties as high as 50 per cent on many Indian imports as punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, an action meant to pressure Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.

The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The diplomatic friction serves as a backdrop to Modi’s current visit to Tian­jin, Chi­na, for a summit of the Shanghai Co­­ope­ration Organisation (SCO), where Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed his vision for a new global security and economic order that prioritises the “Global South,” in a direct challenge to the US.

The US tariffs have strained the relationship between Washington and New Delhi, which had strengthened in recent years over shared concerns about China. India earlier criticised the levies as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2025