Former US NSA John Bolton calls out Trump on India tariffs, warns of big cost

“An enormous mistake.”

That’s how America’s former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, views US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on India. Trump’s former aide minced no words on the levies that the American president was imposing, warning that the measures intended to hurt Russia, could end up having the opposite effect by pushing New Delhi closer to Moscow and Beijing.

“Trump’s tariffs against India are intended to hurt Russia but they could push India closer to Russia and to China to oppose these tariffs,” John Bolton told CNN in an interview.

He further pointed out that Trump’s apparent leniency towards China would jeopardise decades of American efforts to bring India away from Russia and China. While the US president has levied a 25 per cent penalty on India for buying Russian oil on top of another 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, he has held back on China after engaging in a brief trade war in April. As of now, Beijing has been slapped with a 30 per cent tariff, pending a deal. Notably, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested China’s August 12 deadline could be extended if negotiations appeared promising.

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Earlier too, Bolton flagged the tariffs on India in an opinion piece for US news outlet, The Hill. He wrote that Trump’s leniency towards Beijing could be seen as sacrificing the US’ strategic interests in this “zeal for a deal” with President Xi Jinping. “The White House seems headed toward more lenient treatment for Beijing on tariff rates and other metrics than it imposed on New Delhi. If so, it will be a potentially enormous mistake,” his opinion piece read.

In the same piece, he also pointed out that by the “levying tariffs on friend and foe alike” has likely caused US “a considerable loss of trust and confidence, built up over decades of effort, in exchange for minimal economic gains — if any — and the risk of formidable losses”.

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Bolton has repeatedly called out Trump’s actions in the past few months. Earlier in a July interview to CNBC-TV18, he pointed out that trade and security issues are being treated in silos in Washington, which runs counter to how countries like India perceive their bilateral relationship with the United States. While New Delhi expects alignment on both fronts, Trump’s focus on tariffs and punitive trade actions could strain ties, especially at a time when closer cooperation is needed to counter China’s growing influence.

Meanwhile, India, has so far, refused to bend to Trump’s demands on Russian oil. In fact, it has defended its oil imports and called the tariffs “unfair and unreasonable”.

Russia has extended support to New Delhi and accused the US of exerting illegal trade pressure on India - a week before Trump would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With inputs from agencies