White House trade advisor Peter Navarro continued his tirade against India on Monday, yet again calling it the “Maharajah of tariffs”. He said India “must come around” at some point on trade negotiations with the US or else it “won’t end well” for Delhi.
In an interview with the ‘Real America’s Voice’ show, Navarro described India as the ‘Maharajah’ of tariffs and said, “…it’s absolutely true. They have the highest tariffs in any major country in the world against the United States. We got to deal with that.”
“I think India must come around at some point. And if it doesn’t, it’s laying down with Russia and China, and that won’t end well for India,” he warned.
Peter Navarro added that India never bought oil from Moscow before Russia invaded Ukraine, “except for like little tiny drops of it.
“And then they go into this mode of profiteering with Russian refiners coming on to Indian soil and profiteering,” and American taxpayers end up having to send more money for the conflict, he was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
He listed the “great” trade deals that the US has inked with the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia, saying “all these countries are working very closely with us” because they realise that they’ve been taking too much advantage of the US and also because they need American markets.
Peter Navarro’s rant against India
On Saturday, Peter Navarro, Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing for US President Donald Trump, had a meltdown after being corrected over spreading misinformation pertaining to India’s purchase of Russian oil.
In an earlier post, Navarro had accused India of profiteering from Russian oil, while alleging that India’s tariffs cost “Americans’ jobs”.
In a post on X on Friday (US local time), Navarro made the remarks in response to an article by the Washington Post, which described the conflicting efforts in Trump’s administration over mending the relationship with India.
Navarro said, “FACTS: India highest tariffs costs U.S. jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. U.S. taxpayers shell out more. India can’t handle truth/spins @washpo Leftist American fake news.”
Later on Monday, he posted on X, “India didn’t buy Russian oil in large quantities before Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s blood money and people are dying…”