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Asia
US Weapon Purchase on Hold as India Grapples with Steep US Tariffs
What Happened
As per reporting from Reuters, New Delhi has paused several major weapons purchases from the United States, including Stryker combat vehicles, Javelin missiles, and Boeing planes. The move comes as India is targeted with 50% tariffs – the highest of any major trading partner – for its oil purchases from Russia.
Why It Matters
- Why India? It’s somewhat of a mystery as to why India was targeted by the Trump administration. We know that the BRICS bloc has long been singled out by Trump, particularly in its (largely inconsequential) efforts to pivot global trade from the US dollar, and fellow BRICS member Brazil is also now targeted with a 40% ad hoc blanket tariff over its so-called persecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Meanwhile, China – Russia’s other top oil export market and BRICS member – has been spared an additional tariff.
- US-India Relations in Freefall. It’s remarkable how quickly US-India relations have collapsed during the second Trump administration. Rewind eight years and India was part of a re-invigorated Quad hoping to get India on-side in shared security interests in the Indo-Pacific; rewind five years and the Namaste Trump rallies were feting the president in India; or rewind three months and India was one of the front-runners in the post-Liberation Day blitz to get a trade deal done. These careful and longstanding efforts to cultivate bilateral relations have now crashed on the rocks of an evidently very personal animus toward India on the part of the president, with real and lasting effects for US-India relations going forward.
