Modi reaffirms friendship with U.S. after Trump urges EU to impose 100% tariffs on India

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, Modi said he was “confident” trade negotiations with Trump would unlock the “limitless potential” of the U.S.-India relationship.

This, after Trump’s meeting with EU officials, in which he pressed for punitive tariffs on Chinese and Indian exports as part of his strategy to force Russia into ending the war in Ukraine, now entering its fourth year.

“I am also looking forward to speaking with President Trump. We will work together to secure a brighter, more prosperous future for both our people,” Modi said. 

Trump had initially set a 25% tariff on imports from India, one of the world’s most populous nations and a major exporter of petroleum products, telecoms equipment and pharmaceuticals. But India’s trade with Russia prompted him to double that to 50%, one of the steepest levies Washington has imposed on any country.

In a separate post on his platform Truth Social, Trump said he anticipated meeting Modi “in the coming weeks” and foresaw “no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our great countries.”

As early as August, when he announced the 50% tariff, Trump warned that the same economic penalties could be applied to other countries importing Russian oil, pointedly adding, “one of them could be China.”

International relations scholar Dr. Ila Joshi told Global South World before Trump floated the 100% tariff proposal that Washington risked undoing years of diplomatic outreach with its punitive economic sanctions.

“Some harm has been done. It took a long time for the U.S.to build these relations with the countries, to build those trust factors with the countries. Then suddenly everything breaks and snaps,” said Joshi, who primarily studies China and India.

“Definitely now the U.S. will have to rethink its strategy,” she added.  “Him antagonizing India, well, that’s not an intelligent thing to do.”

While Modi has continued to stress India’s partnership with the U.S., he has also drawn closer to Russia and China, most recently during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where more than 20 regional leaders discussed security, peace and trade.

Joshi said Modi’s approach reflected India’s long-standing policy of keeping its options open, describing its foreign policy as “independent” and “practical.”