US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared the stage like old friends, exchanging warm words and mutual praise that seemed to cement a partnership for the ages at the Howdy Modi event in September 2019 in Houston.
“I’m so thrilled to be here in Texas with one of America’s greatest, most devoted and most loyal friends, Prime Minister Modi of India,” Trump told the cheering crowd. PM Modi returned the sentiment, calling Trump his “true friend in the White House” and praising him as “warm, friendly, accessible, energetic and full of wit”.
Fast-forward to August 2025, and that friendship lies in tatters. Trump has imposed 50% tariff on Indian goods, called India’s economy “dead,” and dismissed the world’s fastest-growing major economy with unprecedented harshness.
SEEDS OF DISCORD
The trouble began long before the Houston lovefest between the two nations.
In February 2018, Trump first publicly complained about India’s high import tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, calling them “unfair”. India was charging up to 100% tariffs on imported motorcycles while the US imposed “zero tax” on Indian bikes.
By March 2018, Trump had imposed 25% tariffs on Indian steel and aluminum as part of his broader trade agenda. Then came the bigger blow: in March 2019, he announced the end of India’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) benefits.
But it was in October 2019, just weeks after their Houston embrace, that Trump first used the phrase that would define his view of India for years to come. He labelled India the “tariff king,” a title that stuck. The man who had praised PM Modi as a great friend was now painting India as a trade abuser with some of the world’s highest tariff rates.
FRIENDSHIP THAT WASN’T
Despite the growing trade tensions, Trump and PM Modi continued their public friendship.
The breaking point came during Trump’s second term. After PM Modi visited Washington in February 2025, both sides appeared optimistic about reaching a comprehensive trade deal. They set an ambitious target of doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
Five rounds of intensive negotiations followed between March and July 2025, with Indian officials growing so confident they signaled to media that tariffs could be capped at just 15%.
On July 30, 2025, instead of announcing the expected trade deal, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Indian goods. His social media post was blunt: “India’s 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 very next day, Trump’s rhetoric turned vicious. “I don’t care what India does with Russia,” he posted on social media. “They can take their dead economies down together for all I care”. The word “dead” was particularly stinging, India has been the world’s fastest-growing major economy, expanding at over 6% annually even as other economies struggle.
Trump’s embrace of Pakistan was also shocking. On the same day he announced tariffs on India, Trump announced a trade deal with Pakistan, praising their cooperation and suggesting Pakistan might even sell oil to India someday. For India, which has fought multiple wars with Pakistan, and the recent heinous attack in Pahalgam, this was diplomatic salt in fresh wounds.
FROM 50,000 CHEERS TO 50% TARIFF
Trump signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, bringing the total to 50% on August 6, 2025. This puts India among the most heavily tariffed nations in US history, facing duties higher than even China during the peak of their trade war.
The contrast with Houston couldn’t be starker. Where once 50,000 people cheered Trump and PM Modi together, now 50% tariffs threaten to devastate Indian exporters. From textiles to gems, from pharmaceuticals to auto parts, Indian businesses face an uncertain future in the American market.
Trade experts call it the worst crisis in US-India relations in two decades. What began with complaints about Harley-Davidson motorcycles has evolved into a full-scale economic confrontation that threatens the broader strategic partnership built over decades.
PM MODI’s STERN RESPONSE
India would put its interests first, even if that means paying a heavy price, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday in remarks seen as a direct response to US President Donald Trump, who slapped a 50 per cent tariff on India for its continued purchases of Russian oil.
Speaking at the MS Swaminathan Centenary International Conference, PM Modi made it clear that he would continue to stand by the country’s farmers and bear the brunt of America’s steepest tariffs. “For us, the interest of our farmers is our top priority,” the PM said. “India will never compromise on the interests of farmers, fishermen and dairy farmers.”
Rahul Ahluwalia, Founder-Director of the Foundation for Economic Development, said, “We export around $90 billion of merchandise to the USA. This additional tariff rate represents a substantial threat to many labour-intensive industries. Our response should consider that lowering trade barriers is in our interests.”
“We should view this as an opportunity to carry out long-needed reforms in different sectors, for eg shifting farmer welfare to DBTs instead of subsidies in electricity and fertilisers which have devastated our ecosystem and forced farmers to stick to low-value crops. This will cause some short-term disruption, but is in our national interest in the medium and long term,” he added.
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