US Congresswoman warns Trump over tariffs and visa crackdowns, says he risks becoming the 'President who lost India'

File photo of US President Donald Trump

A senior US lawmaker has issued one of the strongest warnings yet about the impact of Donald Trump’s tariff policies on Washington’s relationship with New Delhi. Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove said Trump risks becoming “the president who lost India,” arguing that his tariff hikes, visa fees and political grievances are damaging a partnership that she called essential to America’s future.

During a hearing on the US-India Strategic Partnership, Kamlager-Dove, the Democratic Ranking Member, said the relationship with India is central to US interests in defence, energy, AI, space and advanced technologies.

She accused Trump of reversing years of bipartisan progress. According to her, the Biden administration handed Trump “a bilateral relationship at the height of its strength,” pointing to “a revitalised Quad, a budding defence tech partnership and a trusted supply chain partner,” only for it to be “flush, flush, flush down the toilet.”

Kamlager-Dove warned that Trump’s approach could have lasting damage unless he shifts course. “Unless he changes course. Trump will be the American President who lost India,” she said.

She also called the tariff policy self-defeating. “The tariff rate on India is currently higher than the tariff rate on China,” she said. Democrats criticised the administration for undermining people-to-people ties through a 100,000 dollar fee on H-1B visas, “70 percent of which are held by Indians,” which she said was “a rebuke of the incredible contributions Indians have made in the US.”

Relations between India and the United States have come under stress in recent months after Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Indian goods and a 25 percent tariff on Indian-linked Russian oil. Both measures rank among the highest trade penalties applied to any country and have added pressure to one of America’s most important strategic partnerships.