‘You guys are talking nonsense…’: Why did Donald Trump get furious over trade tensions with India?

The trade relations between America and India have seen many ups and downs in recent years, but do you know why Donald Trump’s temper got so high inside the White House regarding India’s tariffs that he scolded his own top officials? This has been revealed in a new book that has come out recently, which has made public those closed-door debates inside the then American administration, which were hidden from the eyes of the world.

In the book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump” by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, it is claimed that Trump felt that India was charging excessive taxes on American products. According to the incidents recorded in the pages of the book, Trump was extremely angry that his own officials were misleading him and presenting ‘nonsense figures’.

When Trump scolded American officials

Actually, the incident took place when the then US Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick tried to show official figures to Trump. Trump believed that India imposes tariffs of up to 175 percent on American goods. When Latnick presented official figures from the US Trade Representative (USTR), Trump was furious. The book claims that Trump said angrily, “No one is giving me correct information. After all, what is the truth about how much tariffs China and India impose on us? You people are just putting forward nonsense figures.” This stance of Trump clearly shows to what extent there was an atmosphere of distrust and strictness in the American administration regarding India at that time.

‘Maharaja of Tariff’ and growing dissatisfaction

It was not that Trump alone was critical of India’s policies. The then Treasury Secretary Scott Besant was also very unhappy with India’s methods. He even went a step further and called India the “Maharaja of Tariffs”. According to White House documents, at that time, dissatisfaction was growing rapidly within the American administration regarding India’s ‘import duty’, which later transformed into major business decisions.

Ukraine war and tariffs reaching 50 percent

This internal tussle of the White House had a direct impact on the trade of both the countries. US first imposed additional tariff of 25 percent on Indian products under ‘Liberation Day’ duty action. The matter worsened when in August 2025, Trump accused India of buying crude oil from Russia. Trump’s argument was that India buying oil from Russia is financially helping Russia in the Ukraine war. This one allegation added fuel to the fire and another additional duty of 25 percent was imposed on Indian goods. As a result, total US tariffs on Indian products reached a whopping 50 percent. This move brought India in line with countries like China and Brazil, which the US considered the most subject to import duties.

Steps towards agreement

After this long-lasting trade tension, news of relief is now coming. On 2 February 2026, India and the US announced the framework for a new bilateral trade agreement. Under this agreement, America has agreed to reduce the tariff on Indian products from 50 percent to 18 percent. At the same time, India has also decided to reduce duty on things like American agricultural products, soybean oil and wine. The most important thing is the agreement regarding oil import from Russia, under which India has agreed to stop it. Although it is yet to be fully implemented, the recent conversation between Jameson Greer and Piyush Goyal indicates that both the countries are moving towards leaving the old dispute behind.