‘India kills us with tariffs’: Donald Trump again claims New Delhi offered ‘no tariff’ deal

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump again claimed that New Delhi has offered him a “no tariff” deal as he justified his move to impose a 50 per cent levy on Indian goods.

In a telephonic interview on The Scott Jennings Radio Show, Trump claimed that he understands tariffs better than any human being and criticised India, which he believes is the “most tariffed nation” in the world.

“China kills us with tariffs, India kills us with tariffs, Brazil kills us with tariffs. I’ve understood tariffs better than they did; I understood tariffs better than any human beings in the world. India was the most highly tariffed nation in the world, and you know what, they’ve offered me no tariffs in India anymore. No tariffs. If I didn’t have tariffs, they would never make that offer. So you have to have tariffs”, Donald Trump said.

Just got off the phone with PRESIDENT TRUMP.

We covered several topics but top of his mind this morning: THE TARIFF RULING. Here’s a clip … and you can hear more today on THE SCOTT JENNINGS RADIO SHOW 2-3PM eastern on SALEM and streaming on X pic.twitter.com/7qQwINFwO7

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) September 2, 2025

This is not the first time that Trump has mentioned a “no tariff deal”. On Monday, he claimed that the business relationship between the two countries for many decades has been “totally one-sided”, “one-sided disaster” and also that “they have now offered to cut their tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late”.

“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us. In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest “client”, but we sell them very little. Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades. The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high tariffs, the most of any country, that our businesses are unable to sell into India”, he said.

“It has been a totally one-sided disaster! Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S. They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago. Just some simple facts for people to ponder!!!” he added.

New Delhi is facing global uncertainties due to heightened economic tensions following the US imposition of a 50 per cent tariff on Indian imports, which was supplemented by an additional 25 per cent due to its purchase of Russian crude oil.

However, Donald Trump has himself faced severe backlash from his own country’s political clout after a US appeals court ruled the tariffs “illegal”. Former US National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan has alleged that Trump has “thrown away” ties with India over Pakistan’s willingness to do business with Trump’s family.

“The US has worked to build a relationship with India, a country that we should be aligned with on technology, talent, economics and so many issues. And align with dealing with strategic threats from China. Now. I think because of Pakistan’s willingness to do business with the Trump family, Trump has thrown away India’s relationship on the side. Germany or Japan will look at that (India) and say that could be us tomorrow. America’s friends will think that they can’t rely on us in any way”, Jake Sullivan told MeidasTouch.

President and CEO of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Mukesh Aghi also suggested that some claims of Donald Trump may not have any substance.

“There are certain comments that the President makes, and you have to take it with certain weightage or non-weightage to it. It is important to understand that when a tweet comes out or something on Truth Social, some may have substance and some may not. I think people of India are mature and they have to do what they have to do for the good of the country”, Mukesh Aghi said. (ANI)