Nicholas Burns

I also think it just doesn't make a lot of sense if you look at the history of the U.S.-India relationship.

You know, we have this historic competition with China underway, really for which of us is going to be the strongest country in the Indo-Pacific and in the world in the future.

India has been now for 25 years strong.

One of the key strategic partners of the United States, every American president, starting with President Bill Clinton, Democrat and Republican, has believed, and this includes President Trump in his first term, that we've got to get along with India.

We've got to strengthen our military partnership because that strengthens our ability to leverage China.

and to make sure that China is hemmed in in its territorial ambitions on the India-China border in the Himalayas, but also in places like the South and East China Sea.

So I understand that the Trump administration believes in this policy of high tariffs.

But when you exact these high tariffs on India, Japan, South Korea, the European Union, you're weakening our natural coalition of countries that want to be with us

In terms of going up against the Chinese and limiting their power.

But it's difficult to do when you've got 50% American tariffs on Indian products coming into the United States.

Every country has domestic politics.

Every leader.

Well, you know, there's going to be an historic meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi on September 3rd in Beijing.

And this is this is a step backwards, a major step backwards for the United States, because we had since the end of the 90s, a long time ago, we've established this true partnership with India.

And now it's at risk because of this misguided terrorist tariff policy by the Trump administration.