50% duty on India: US House member hits out at Donald Trump's 'tariff tantrum'; warns of damage to India-US ties

Member of the US House of Representatives, Gregory Meeks on Friday hit out at American President Donald Trump for imposing 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, saying it "risks years of careful work" between the two nations."Trump's latest tariff tantrum risks years of careful work to build a stronger US-India partnership," Meeks said. "We have deep strategic, economic, and people-to-people ties. Concerns should be addressed in a mutually respectful way consistent with our democratic values," the Congressman said, as quoted by the House foreign affairs committee's account on X, while sharing an article from the think tank Carnegie Endowment.The article Meeks shared, titled 'Donald Trump Risks Tanking Twenty-Five Years of US-India Relations', says, "After more than two decades of bipartisan effort to transform the relationship between New Delhi and Washington, including during his own first term, US President Donald Trump is now in the process of dismantling this painstakingly built relationship."US President Donald Trump, in addition to the 25 per cent tariff announced last week, imposed another 25 per cent levies on India on Wednesday for purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties slapped on India to 50 per cent, among the highest imposed by the US on any country in the world.The additional 25 per cent duty will come into effect after 21 days or August 27. Reacting to Trump's additional tariffs, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said in a statement that it is "extremely unfortunate" that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest. "We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India," the MEA statement said. "We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests," it said.