Washington: US President Donald Trump has once again targeted India over trade, branding it the “most tariffed nation” in the world and repeating his claim that New Delhi offered to eliminate tariffs altogether — a move he insisted would not have come without his tough stance. Trump claimed that India, like China and Brazil, “kills” the US with tariffs.

Speaking on The Scott Jennings Radio Show, Trump said, “China kills us with tariffs, India kills us with tariffs, Brazil kills us with tariffs. I’ve understood tariffs better than they did; I understood tariffs better than any human beings in the world. India was the most highly tariffed nation in the world, and you know what, they’ve offered me no tariffs in India anymore. No tariffs.” “If I didn’t have tariffs, they would never make that offer. So you have to have tariffs,” Trump claimed. He said that the tariff gave the United States "tremendous negotiating power."

The Republican leader, who has made tariffs a central plank of both his economic and foreign policy, has repeated the “no tariff” claim on multiple occasions in recent weeks. On social media, he described trade with India as a “totally one-sided disaster”, claiming that India “sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest 'client', but we sell them very little”.

India-US ties have been marred by tensions after Trump imposed 25% per cent tariffs on the country and then went on to double it — taking US duties on Indian goods to 50% — over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. India has categorically rejected Trump’s demand to halt its Russian crude oil deal, asserting that New Delhi makes decisions based on market dynamics and in the best interests of its people.