 "Trump again calls trade ties with India ‘one-sided’, cites steep tariffs on Harley-Davidson")
Trump has renewed his attack on India’s trade policies, calling the economic relationship “one-sided” and criticising New Delhi for imposing some of the world’s highest tariffs, including duties of up to 200 per cent on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated his criticism of India’s trade policies, accusing New Delhi of imposing some of the steepest tariffs in the world and describing the long-standing economic relationship as “one-sided.”
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump cited the example of Harley-Davidson motorcycles while addressing India’s 50 per cent tariffs.
He noted that India had once imposed a 200 per cent duty on imported motorcycles. “Harley-Davidson couldn’t sell into India. There was a 200 percent tariff on a motorcycle. So what happens? Harley-Davidson went to India and built a motorcycle plant. And now they don’t have to pay tariffs. Same thing as us,” Trump remarked.
He said, “We get along with India very well, but for many years, it was a one-sided relationship. Only now, since I came along and because of the power that we have with us, India was charging us tremendous tariffs, about the highest in the world, and we therefore weren’t doing much business with India, but they were doing business with us because we weren’t charging them foolishly. We weren’t charging them.”
Trump unloads on India
“We got along, but it was one-sided. India slammed us with insane tariffs, up to 200% on Harley-Davidson.
We weren’t doing much business, they were flooding our market… enough is enough” pic.twitter.com/Boopm0Bdhd
— SaffronSoul (@TheRealDharm) September 2, 2025
Trump argued that India’s high tariffs had hurt American manufacturers. “So they would send in massive, you know, everything they made, they’d send it in, it poured into our country. Therefore, it wouldn’t be made here, you know, which is a negative. But we would not send in anything because they were charging us 100 percent tariffs,” he said.
He went on to claim that such tariff structures forced American companies to move production overseas. However, Trump insisted that his administration’s trade policies, including steep reciprocal tariffs, were beginning to reverse that trend.
Trade talks between Washington and New Delhi, which began in April, had raised hopes of progress, with reports suggesting India could allow zero import duty on a quota of Harley-Davidson bikes.
But negotiations have since stalled, with India looking eastward to China and strengthening its ties with Russia in response to what it sees as tariff aggression.
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