Posted on 08/27/2025 5:27:42 PM PDT by Macho MAGA Man
India is now facing a 50% import tariff against the majority of their goods (electronics and pharmaceuticals exempted). However, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed not to yield to the pressure. Modi said the world was witnessing a “politics of economic selfishness.”
For approximately a decade many western countries including the U.S. have heaped effusive praise on India as corporations viewed the massive Indian population, the world’s largest democracy, as both workers and consumers. However, after the western sanctions against Russia were delivered, India -a BRICS nation- began pulling back from western alignment and influence.
What we are witnessing now is one of the ramifications of the U.S. forcefully putting an “us or them” aspect into the strategic economic relationship, where “them” is Russia. Currently, India is not flinching.
One could make the argument that undeveloped regions in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) contain the majority of the valuable rare earth minerals and magnets the ‘western’ nations need for manufacturing. BRICS has a pressure point to apply leverage, but no global trade currency, if the trade conflict escalates.
INDIA – Steep U.S. tariffs on a range of Indian products took effect Wednesday, threatening a serious blow to India’s overseas trade in its largest export market.
President Donald Trump had initially announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods. But earlier this month he signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff due to India’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the U.S. on its ally to 50%.
The Indian government estimates the tariffs will impact $48.2 billion worth of exports. Officials have warned the new duties could make shipments to the U.S. commercially unviable, triggering job losses and slower economic growth.
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India wants the war in Ukraine to continue as long as possible. The Indian economy is doing well primarily because Russia is selling them oil at discount prices.
Hindus make good talk about regard for life, but in practice, sometimes they have a way of conveniently forgetting that.
(They never were and they never will be)
Does that include JD Vance’s wife?
The US buys very little crude oil from India. We buy modest amounts of refined oil products from them, but, we sell them a lot more crude, and a bit of refined products too.
With 50% tariffs in place, I imagine US purchases of petroleum products from India will zero out, quickly. As they should.
Trump can hurt them. (But he won’t.)
If he wants to import 600,000 Chinese student, he’ll want to import that many Indian workers.
The Chinese will steal American kids’ spots in colleges. The Indians will steal Americans’ jobs.
Whose side is he on, anyhow? He won on “America First”, he must’ve forgotten.
Right. I agree with that. We should sanction the EU.
Once we do that, Putin will be forced to negotiate and end the war because he won't be able to fund his war machine in Ukraine.
“Modi....is outwardly friendly to the U.S. while courting the best deal anyone can give him, in this case Russian oil. It could be China, the U.S. Europe, he won’t care, while he is also happy to flood the U.S. with Indians via the H-1B program while they close markets and access to us. They will act aggrieved while being arrogant and pretentious about it and will dig in on this as long as they can.”
He’s doing what he as India’s leader should do.
I have no problem with India buying Russian oil in exchange for consumer goods like cashews, towels, iron pipe fittings, manhole covers, etc.
India should not sell Russia anything for its war effort, such as CNC machine tools, or provide anything such as hard currency to buy war effort supplies elsewhere.
Yes, the Russian national government relies on oil revenue for about half of its budget, but it can rely on income taxation like the USA does. Russia can also tax electricity and increase tariffs.
Russian kids might get to play a reality video game of Kill by Drone, a product of Putin Video Games, Inc.
I do favor trimming back the H-1B program. No more imports except for persons with at least one granted US patent or if paid at least a 20% premium to their degree and years of experience.
American kids need to sure they have a future before signing for student loans.
No more family unification from India while India is importing Russian oil (and none afterwards either).
Agree on your sentiment but will add the worthless, backstabbing GOPe/uniparty over the years have gotten us in this situation in the first place. President Trump knows this and is doing things that don’t often make sense on the surface until one pictures the SOBs in congress trying to do something good for the nation.
The BBB is a perfect example, many good things in it however it will increase (it is said) our deficit by $2 trillion in a decade for Trump to get funds for actions that he wanted, pork, pork, pork was added to appease the GOPe turncoats. This other stuff we’re seeing now is annoying but insignificant...hopefully.
It’s time to cut the H-1B programs...
“he won’t be able to fund his war machine in Ukraine’
A nation of 135 million will always be able to pay 500,000 men.
And then Europeans purchase the oil from India.
Trump kmows that, obviously. It’s interesting to me he doesn’t call them out like on NATO spending. It makes me think this is more about his trade negotations with India than Ukraine/Russia.
Put a 50% tariff on the money the H1B’s, or whatever they are called, send home also!
If such were the case the most qualified person would get the job, not the cheapest.
The doctor that opened my chest, stopped my heart cut parts out and replaced those parts and the lower ascending aorta was from India. I chose him as he was head of cardiac surgery and a teaching professor for Texan A&M with an excellent reputation. I made a wise choice and am glad he is here in our nation.
It may surprise you, but H1Bs are only important to a miniscule amount of Indian voters. 40% of 1.4 Billion people in India are dependent on marginal farming. Also, another 400 million don't want their milk from cows fed offal. NO politician will give in to any amount of threats on these fundamental issues. There is a chance of Soya for edible oil but that isn't saying much. Please stop H1Bs totally. We have no problem. Get 600K Chinese students and see how they spy for China.
Have you considered that till now, China and Europe have bought more from Russia than India has? Apart from all the distillates bought from India, which America also occasionally buys.
Thank you for the first substantive reply.
Modi should recognize the risks he is taking here if (for example) he wants to defend India against Pakistani missiles. Nor has China been a friendly partner, particularly as India absorbs much of the offshoring China has enjoyed. If he stays a pill, Vietnam, Thailand, and others will step up. So there are considerations with laundering Russian oil Modi should weigh, although I am sympathetic to his likely disgust with holding large dollar reserves.
Domestic oil production 900K bpd. They just don’t have any. It ain’t some ecological regulation stopping them. There is very little there.
Domestic oil consumption about 5.8 million bpd. That was up 5% last year.
They have to have oil. If you want them to not buy it from Russia, then shut off US consumption by 4 mbpd and ship it over there at Russian prices (which means at a loss for expensive shale oil).
And of course shale oil doesn’t have the same diesel yield as Russian Urals, which you need to have if you’re building stuff as part of that 6% GDP increase and have to power heavy equipment.
This is a fail for sanctions.
Nations have no friends. We have just driven India into the Axis Camp. Now its Russia,China,Iran,North Korea and India. We have lost the Indian Ocean. We might be on the verge of losing Venezuela too.
One wonders about the opportunities in destabilizing Venezuela. I can't think of anywhere else that kind of marginal production might be possible even in the intermediate term.
It took us a long time to dig ourselves into this hole. One can't reasonably expect a quick fix.
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