A leading American academic has urged former US President Donald Trump to immediately reverse his steep tariff policy on India, cut duties to zero, and even “apologise” to New Delhi, warning that the measures threaten Washington’s most important partnership of the 21st century.
Edward Price, adjunct professor at New York University, told ANI that India today holds a “deciding vote” in shaping global geopolitics. He argued that Trump’s approach was undermining US strategic interests at a time when Washington is locked in confrontation with China and grappling with Russia over Ukraine.
#WATCH | New York | NYU professor and Independent Analyst, Edward Price says, "I consider the partnership between India and the US as the most crucial 21st century partnership. This partnership will decide what happens between China and Russia. India has the deciding vote in the… pic.twitter.com/ASGbOCnisG
— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2025
“I consider the India-US partnership the most crucial 21st-century partnership. This will determine the balance between China and Russia. I can’t for the life of me understand why the US President, while facing China and Russia, imposes 50% tariffs on India,” Price said.
Calling the policy “counterproductive,” Price urged: “We need to remove the 50% tariff on India, bring it to zero, and apologise.”
Praise for Modi’s global balancing act
Price also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategic handling of power rivalries, noting that New Delhi has carefully signalled its options without fully siding with either Beijing or Moscow.
“PM Modi is being pretty smart. He’s reminding the Americans, and people like me, that India has options. But he has not fully embraced China and Russia. For instance, he skipped attending the military parade,” Price observed.
He stressed that India’s foreign policy remains fundamentally independent. “India is a sovereign civilisation state. It makes its own choices. There’s no way India will permanently plant its feet on one side or the other,” he added.
Trump’s tariff offensive
The Trump administration has slapped one of the world’s highest effective tariff regimes on India: a 25% reciprocal duty on Indian exports combined with another 25% levy linked to New Delhi’s purchase of Russian crude. Trump has accused India of “fueling Russia’s deadly attacks on Ukraine” while resisting tougher sanctions on Moscow himself.
On Truth Social, Trump described the trade relationship as a “one-sided disaster,” claiming, “They sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest client, but we sell them very little.”
But Price cautioned that such rhetoric risks alienating India at a historic juncture. “India has the deciding vote in the 21st century. Alienating it now makes no sense,” he warned, underscoring that cooperation between the world’s two largest democracies will be pivotal in shaping the global order.
