Following Washington’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods coming into effect earlier on Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed optimism about resolving trade tensions with India, stating, “at the end of the day, we (India and the US) will come together.”
Speaking to Fox Business Network, Bessent acknowledged the complexities in the India-US relationship amid current economic concerns, while highlighting the strong personal rapport between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump as a foundation for eventual agreement. “This is a very complicated relationship. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have very good relationships at that level. And it’s not just over the Russian oil,” the US Treasury Secretary said.
“India is the world’s largest democracy, and the US is the world’s largest economy. I think at the end of the day, we will come together,” he added. His remarks came after Washington’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian imports to the US took effect earlier today, following a draft notice published by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which stated that the order would take effect on August 27.
According to the notice, the additional duties are being imposed to give effect to the President’s Executive Order 14329 of August 6, 2025, which specifies a new rate of duty on imports of articles that are products of India. The additional 25 per cent tariffs by the US, bringing the tariff to 50 per cent, were imposed due to India’s purchase of Russian oil.
Bessent, however, stated that India’s negotiating stance has been “performative”, noting the US’s advantage as the deficit country in trade relations. “I think a lot of it by the Indians has been performative. But I will tell you, I’ve said this all along during the tariff negotiations: the US is the deficit country. When there is a schism in trade relations, the deficit country is at an advantage. It’s the surplus country that should worry. So the Indians are selling to us.
They have very high tariffs. And we have a very large deficit with them,” he said to Fox Business Network. The US Treasury Secretary also traced back to India’s early trade engagement with the US following Trump’s April 2 Liberation Day announcement for tariff imposition on certain countries, noting that New Delhi “could be one of the earlier deals”, expecting a deal to have been struck in May or June.
“The Indians came in very early, after Liberation Day, to start negotiating on tariffs. And we still don’t have a deal. I thought that we would have a deal in May or June. I thought India could be one of the earlier deals. And they kind of tapped us along in terms of the negotiations and then there is also the aspect of the Russian crude purchases, which they’ve been profiteering on. There are many levels going on here,” Bessent added.
