Ro Khanna says Trump imposed tariffs on India after Modi's Nobel snub

A renowned US lawmaker, RO Khanna, has accused US President Donald Trump of slapping a 50 per cent tariff on India because Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

He also said that India has termed the border dispute with Pakistan as an “internal matter” and refused to give Donald Trump credit. Khanna was referring to the military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours following India’s Operation Sindoor, launched in retaliation for the Pahelgam terror attack that left 26 civilians dead.

‘Trump undermining 30 years of bipartisan work’

Khanna, the co-chair of the US-India caucus, further alleged that Trump was undermining “30 years of bipartisan work” to strengthen US-India ties.

“He has imposed a 50 per cent India, higher than in any other country other than Brazil. It’s a higher tariff than the tariff on China. It is hurting India’s exports of leather and textiles to the United States, and it is hurting the American manufacturers and our exports into India,” said Khanna in a video message posted on his X handle.

“As the co-Chair of the US-India Caucus, I want to sound the five-alarm fire on what Donald Trump is doing to destroy the US-India relationship. He is undermining 30 years of bipartisan work to strengthen the US-India alliance,” he added.

Also Read: Trump’s 'personal pique' led to 50 per cent tariffs on India, says Jefferies

‘Tariffs on India hurting US manufacturers’

Pointing out that the 50 per cent US tariffs imposed on India were higher than any other country other than Brazil, Khanna said that even the tariff imposed on China was lower than that on Indian goods.

The lawmaker said that Trump’s tariffs on India were not only hurting India’s exports of leather and textiles to the US, but were also having an adverse effect on American manufacturers and US exports to India.

“He has imposed a 50 per cent India higher than in any other country other than Brazil. It’s a higher tariff than the tariff on China. It is hurting India’s exports of leather and textiles to the United States, and it is hurting the American manufacturers and our exports into India,” said Khanna.

Also Read: Why India must take Brazil’s lead to save Tiruppur from impact of Trump’s tariffs

‘Trump pushing India towards China’

He further alleged that Trump’s tariffs were pushing India towards China and Russia, adding that the US President can’t be allowed to “destroy a strategic relationship with India” that is the key to ensuring that America leads and not China.

“To all those Indian-Americans who voted for Donald Trump, I am asking you, ‘Where are you today while he destroys this relationship? '” he added.