Describing the India-U.S. relationship as “very complicated”, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday (August 27, 2025) hoped that “at the end of the day, we will come together.”
“This is a very complicated relationship. President (Donald) Trump or Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi have very good relationships at that level. And it’s not just over the Russian oil,” Mr. Bessent stated in an interview with Fox Business.
Stressing that India is the world’s largest democracy and the U.S. is the world’s largest financial system, he stated, “I think at the end of the day, we will come together.”
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His comments came hours after the additional 25% tariff imposed by Mr. Trump on India for its purchases of Russian oil came into effect, bringing the total amount of levies imposed on New Delhi to 50%.
On Monday, Prime Minister Modi asserted he can’t compromise on the interests of farmers, cattle-rearers, small-scale industries, cautioning “pressure on us may increase, but we will bear it”.
Mr. Bessent said that he had thought the trade deal with India would be among the first ones that Washington would sign, but that has not happened.
“The Indians came in very early after Liberation Day to start negotiating on tariffs, and we still don’t have a deal,” he stated, referring to April 2, 2025, when Mr. Trump had introduced Washington would impose sweeping tariffs on nations round the world.
Mr. Bessent added that he had thought that “we would have a deal” with India in May and June. “I thought India could be one of the earlier deals. And they kind of tapped us along in terms of the negotiations. And then there is also the aspect of the Russian crude purchases, which they’ve been profiteering on. So there are many levels going on here.”
He stated, “I believe at the end of the day, we will come collectively.”
“I believe rather a lot of it by the Indians has been performative however….I’ve stated this all alongside throughout the tariff negotiations, the US is the deficit nation,” he stated.
He stated when there’s a “schism” in commerce relations, the deficit nation is better off. “It’s the surplus country that should worry. So the Indians are selling to us, they have very high tariffs, and we have a very large deficit with them.”
When requested if he worries that India goes to set commerce in the rupee and will commerce with the rupee forex with the BRICS nations as a substitute of the US greenback, Mr. Bessent stated, “There are a lot of things I worry about. The rupee becoming a reserve currency isn’t one of them. I think the rupee is near an all-time low versus the U.S. dollar.”
He additional stated that the U.S. might use a “extra fulsome” assist from its European partners, as President Trump is trying to end the war in Ukraine that never would have started if he had been President.
“Our European allies need to step up. I don’t see them threatening the tariffs on the Indians. As a matter of fact, they’re the ones buying the refined products that’s made from the Russian oil.”
Mr. Trump had announced reciprocal tariffs of 25% on India that came into effect on August 7, when tariffs on about 70 other nations also kicked in. On August 7, the U.S. President announced doubling tariffs on Indian goods to 50% for India’s purchases of Russian crude oil, but gave a 21-day window to negotiate an agreement.
