Trump Tells India And Russia To Take Their Dead Economies Down Together

The US President Donald Trump once again mounted a sharp jab at India and Russia for their close ties and said that the two countries can take their "dead economies down together", he said on his Truth Social handle on Thursday.

The US president's fresh criticism of New Delhi and Moscow came hours after announcing 25 per cent tariffs against India, plus a "penalty" for its trade with Russia.

"We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World," he added.

Yesterday, Trump earlier posted on his Truth Social handle about the implementation of the 25% tariffs on India, and had also called India’s tariffs on the US to be “the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country.

The surprise announcement came a day after Indian officials said that a US trade team would visit from August 25 to negotiate a trade deal.

The announcement is being seen as a pressure tactic to get New Delhi to agree to demands made by the US, which has, in recent days, secured favourable trade deals with major partners such as Japan, the UK, and the European Union.

"All things not good! India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25 per cent, plus a penalty for the above, starting on August first," Trump said in a social media post.

Trump also said that due to the trade barriers, we have little or no business with India due to their barriers and are having a huge trade deficit with them.

India's import of crude oil from Russia has risen from 0.2 per cent of total purchases before the Russia-Ukraine war to 35-40 per cent. New Delhi is the largest buyer of Russian oil after China.

He said India has always purchased a significant amount of military equipment and energy products from Russia at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the "killing" in Ukraine.