US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that while America enjoys good relations with India, the trade partnership had long been “one-sided,” with New Delhi imposing “tremendous tariffs” on American products.
Responding to a question at the White House on whether he planned to roll back tariffs on India, Trump said the imbalance shifted only after he took office. “India was charging us tremendous tariffs, about the highest in the world,” he said. “We weren’t doing much business with India. But they were doing business with us because we weren’t charging them.”
#WATCH | Washington, DC | US President Donald Trump says, “We get along with India very well, but for many years it was a one-sided relationship… India was charging us tremendous tariffs, the highest in the world. They were about the highest in the world… We weren’t doing… pic.twitter.com/qcU9uNEir3
— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2025
Citing the example of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Trump said the company faced tariffs as high as 200% in India. “So what happens? Harley Davidson went to India and built a motorcycle plant, and now they don’t have to pay tariffs,” he remarked, calling the practice unfair to American manufacturers.
“They’d send it in, pour it into our country. Therefore, it wouldn’t be made here, which is a negative, but we would not send in anything because they were charging us 100% tariffs,” Trump said.
Trump claimed that Indian goods had been “pouring” into the US market for years while American exports were effectively blocked. “Therefore it wouldn’t be made here, which is a negative,” he said, insisting that his administration had moved to correct the imbalance.
