US-India ties stick, but Trump's tariff whiplash bites — SkimNews
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- Marco Rubio visited Mumbai and Jamnagar but not New Delhi, a pattern shared by Xi Jinping's 2019 Tamil Nadu visit, Keir Starmer's Mumbai trip last October and Friedrich Merz's January stop in Ahmedabad and Bengaluru.
- India and the US lifted bilateral goods-and-services trade to around US$240 billion in 2025, with India running more joint military exercises with the US than any other country, the launch of a joint satellite in 2025 and pledges of massive AI investment from US tech companies.
- Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refinery, the world's largest, drew Rubio after India became the second-largest buyer of Venezuelan heavy crude — most of it processed there — following the US capture of Nicolas Maduro in January; Trump announced in March that Reliance will invest in a major refinery in Brownsville, Texas.
- Trump's administration hit India with 50 per cent tariffs and threatened secondary sanctions, with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro calling India a 'laundromat for the Kremlin'; the duties were cut in February when New Delhi suspended Russian oil purchases under an interim trade-deal framework, a concession partially reversed when the US allowed India to buy Russian oil stranded at sea after Strait of Hormuz disruptions from the US-Israel attack on Iran.
- Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 authorized tariffs of up to 100 per cent on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, including India; Trump waived the penalties in October after the US began buying Russian diesel itself, with Rubio flagging a 60-day review.
- Christopher Landau said the US would not repeat the 'mistake' it made with China by allowing India to emerge as an economic competitor to the US, a sharp break from previous administrations that helped facilitate India's rise.
- Quad leaders' summit: none has taken place in over two years, though plans are reported for Manila in November, while India's finance minister says bilateral trade talks have hit a 'plateau'.
Why it matters: India buys Russian crude to hold down prices, yet Washington's 50 per cent tariff threat, February interim deal and October waiver of up to 100 per cent penalties keep resetting the terms. New Delhi's finance minister already says trade talks have hit a 'plateau,' and no Quad leaders' summit has occurred in over two years.
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