New Delhi spent decades cosying up to the US. The truth is, Washington doesn’t have allies outside the west – it has clients
W
hen Donald Trump won his second term, India’s ruling elite must have been quietly pleased. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s performative courting of King Donald, both in and out of office, suggested a special chemistry between these two titans of the hard right.
As Trump set about remaking global trade and geopolitics by weaponising tariffs, India got into trade negotiations with the US early. New Delhi accepted that negotiations would be difficult, given its red lines on agricultural and dairy products. Yet it was optimistic about getting a deal commensurate with India’s economic heft – and strategic value to the US as a counterweight to China.
Instead, Trump first slapped India, in April, with a 25% tariff that in itself exceeded the rate levied on most US allies. This has now doubled to 50%, as punishment for India for buying, refining and exporting Russian oil during that country’s war on Ukraine. This tariff rate will make all nonexempt Indian exports to the US uncompetitive.
