'Shows govt has a spine': Netizens in India play down Trump tariffs, say 'time to push back'

US President Donald Trump

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed that “no leader” of any country had asked India to stop Operation Sindoor, US President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff along with a penalty on India.

Describing India as a “friend” while announcing the measure, the US President listed the country’s high tariffs, its procurement of "vast majority" of military equipment and energy from Russia as well as "obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers".

India’s denial a role in Trump’s recent announcement?

Many see Trump’s tariff announcement as a retaliatory move following India’s rejection of his ceasefire mediation claims. RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy, for instance, said that Trump’s move is not just a “hostile tariff action”. “It is a reaction to Op Sindoor debate in LS/RS. Jaishankar slapped Trump on his face by saying he & Modi never spoke from April 22 to May 17, clearly implying Trump is lying. We have proved Trump's lie,” he said in a post on X.

Earlier, Trump had also claimed that the ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan came through trade talks by US that helped ease tensions – another statement that India has specifically denied.

Commentator Abhijit Iyer-Mitra took to X and wrote, “Implicit in Trump’s 25%+ tariffs is that he lied about India agreeing to a ceasefire with Pakistan in return for a trade deal. Since there is no deal it obviously means there was no such offer or agreement. This means India is free to resume hostilities against Pakistan.”

'Time to push back'

Breaking ranks with the Congress’ stance on the tariff row, MP Manish Tewari remarked that the US President had “given the biggest tribute to Indian strategic exceptionalism and strategic autonomy now stretching back to 1947.”

“The Policy of Non alignment that was put in place by India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru now called multi alignment and self reliance put in place by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi now called Atam Nirbhar Bharat are the strategic continuums that provides the Indian state with the flexibility to engage with the world on it’s own terms and in it’s best national interest,” he wrote.

Noting that Trump’s tariff threat would not really make a difference to the “strategic autonomy” built up over the decades, he said that the move might damage the larger fabric of the Indo-US engagement.

Observer Research Foundation’s senior fellow Sushant Sareen noted that while India aimed for a fair deal with the US, “succumbing to bullying” was never part of the plan. “At the end of the day, a trade deal has to be fair, and it must ensure that lives of Indians become better, not worse. Trump too shall pass. US tariffs are not the end of the world. They will hurt, of course. But it is an opportunity to fix some things that we were kicking down the road,” he wrote.

“Free the economy from the clutches of the bureaucracy, initiate reforms on a war footings, become the demolisher of obstacles that the PM was famous for, make regulation sensible, transparent and enforce it without exception. Bring in the necessary reforms in the digital space. Force foreign companies to follow Indian laws and have their data centres in India. Trump is a bully. The more we try to please and humour him, the more he will push us. Time to push back,” he added.

Policy analyst Surya Kanegaonkar said that Trump’s announcement is a testament to the fact that Indian government has a spine. “Trump’s statement should be translated into local languages and shown to every citizen. It proves @narendramodi’s government is keeping fuel costs down by purchasing oil from whoever supplies it at competitive prices, prevents GMO crops from flooding the market, and is unwilling to integrate India into the American defense matrix,” he said.

How India reacted to Trump’s India-Pak ceasefire claims?

Countering the Opposition’s attack over Trump’s mediation remarks, Modi said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that he had clearly told US Vice President JD Vance on May 9 that Pakistan would suffer a heavy price if it dared to strike India.

His remarks came amid Trump’s repeated claims of brokering peace between India and Pakistan amid the escalating conflict post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Hours after Modi’s speech, Trump once again claimed credit for brokering the ceasefire.

In his Truth Social post, Trump said that US has done relatively little business with India because of “high tariffs”. “Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine,” he said.

Earlier today, external affairs minister S Jaishankar also categorically said there was no third-party intervention in bringing about a ceasefire with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US President did not have any phone calls between April 22, when the Pahalgam terror attack took place, and June 16.

India-US bilateral trade in numbers

During 2021-25, the US was India's largest trading partner. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in bilateral trade, as per PTI.

With America, India had a trade surplus (the difference between imports and exports) of $35.32 billion in goods in 2023-24. It was $41 billion in 2024-25 and $27.7 billion in 2022-23.

In 2024-25, bilateral trade between India and the US reached $186 billion. India exported $86.5 billion in goods while importing $45.3 billion.

In services, India exported an estimated $28.7 billion and imported $25.5 billion, adding a $3.2 billion surplus. Altogether, India ran a total trade surplus of about $44.4 billion with the US.