Trump, Bessent knock India as tariff deadline nears

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and President Trump took swings at India as a tariff deadline nears for the country.

“India came to the table early. They’ve been slow rolling things,” Bessent said Thursday during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“So, I think that the president, the whole trade team’s been frustrated with them, and also, India’s been a large buyer of sanctioned Russian oil that they then resell as refined products. So, you know, they have not been a great global actor.”

The president himself said in an early morning post to Truth Social that he did not “care what India does with Russia.”

“They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” he added in the Thursday post.

On Wednesday, Trump said he was going to impose a 25 percent tariff on India and a penalty for purchasing military equipment and energy from Russia during the war in Ukraine.

“Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump said on Truth Social.

“Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST,” he added.