US President Donald Trump has once again criticized India’s trade practices, calling the bilateral economic relationship “one-sided” and accusing New Delhi of imposing some of the highest tariffs in the world on American goods.

“We get along with India very well. But India, you have to understand, for many years it was a one-sided relationship,” Trump said while speaking on US trade policy.

The president reiterated his long-standing grievance that India levies disproportionately high tariffs on American exports, particularly in sectors like agriculture and motorcycles. “India was charging us tremendous tariffs, about the highest in the world. They were number one. So, we weren’t doing much business with India, but they were doing business with us because we weren’t charging them foolishly,” he remarked.

As an example, Trump pointed to Harley-Davidson motorcycles, which once faced tariffs as high as 200 percent. “Harley-Davidson couldn’t sell into India. So what happens? They went to India, built a plant, and didn’t have to pay tariffs,” he said. However, Harley-Davidson shut down its Haryana assembly plant in 2020 due to weak demand. India later reduced import duties on foreign motorcycles from 50 percent to 30–40 percent.

While Trump claims India’s tariffs are the highest globally, data from the World Trade Organization and World Bank shows otherwise. India does, however, maintain steep tariffs in specific sectors, such as agriculture, to protect domestic farmers.

Trade tensions between Washington and New Delhi escalated during Trump’s first term, with the US imposing 25 percent tariffs on Indian imports in 2019, later raising them to 50 percent after India continued oil purchases from Russia. Despite these disputes, both countries remain important trading partners with a relationship that extends beyond economics into defense, technology, and strategic cooperation.