'Bring India tariffs to zero and apologise’: US analyst calls bilateral ties ‘crucial’; urges Donald Trump to revert trade changes

US President Donald Trump is facing widespread criticism for imposing steep tariffs on India. Senior US analyst Edward Price has urged him to eliminate them entirely and issue an apology.In an interview with ANI, Price, a professor at New York University, described India as a “deciding” player in shaping the 21st century and called the US-India relationship “crucial.” He expressed surprise at Trump’s decision to impose tariffs while the US is confronting China and engaged in a conflict with Russia."We need to remove the 50 per cent tariff on India and get it down to something far more reasonable, I suggest zero per cent and apologise," said Price.He described the US-India partnership as the most crucial 21st-century relationship, noting that it will influence developments with China and Russia. Price emphasized that India holds a deciding role in global affairs and is set to become an even more significant player in the coming years. Price expressed puzzlement over the decision to impose high tariffs on India while the US is confronting China and engaged in a conflict with Russia.He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him “pretty smart” for reminding the US that India has alternatives while avoiding a full alignment with China or Russia. He noted that PM Modi’s decision not to attend Beijing’s recent military parade reflects this balanced approach.“PM Modi is being pretty smart. He is reminding the Americans, he's reminding people like me that he has options, but he's not fully embraced China and Russia and is not attending the military parade, for example,” Price said.On India’s position regarding Chinese influence, Price emphasised that India remains an independent sovereign nation and will not align permanently with any external power.Price argued that Russia does not hold a Moscow-centered sphere of influence, describing Putin’s efforts to rebuild the former Soviet empire as fundamentally flawed. He noted that while Russia is currently aligned with China, India under Prime Minister Modi maintains its independence and is not drawn into China’s sphere of influence. "India is an independently minded sovereign with its own civilisation. It makes its own choices...There's no way that India is going to permanently put its feet, one side or the other, of a line, and especially not when it looks at what's happened to Russia, which is essentially a form of economic conquest by China, he added. Speaking on former US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s allegations that President Trump may be prioritising his family’s business interests in Pakistan over US-India relations, Price acknowledged Trump’s financial interests but said it is difficult to confirm their impact."It does seem that the President of the United States has active financial interests and this is a departure with what's always traditionally been the case, which is that Presidents are not supposed to have active financial interests and I'm afraid to say we will never know, it's almost impossible to get to the bottom of what exactly those interests are," Price noted.