Tesla, Tariffs, and Trump: India keeps its distance

As the U.S. President Donald Trump intensifies his verbal offensive—threatening tariffs, boasting about ceasefires, and demanding trade concessions—New Delhi has chosen quiet resistance over rhetorical retaliation. Despite provocative statements and overt pressure from Washington, India has neither bent nor barked. Behind this silence lies a calculated, policy—firm, patient, and quietly disruptive.
India is displaying remarkable patience in the face of repeated insinuations, threats, and provocations from Trump. While trade negotiations continue—some stuck, others strained—Trump has taken to public outbursts, claiming credit for ceasefires, slapping tariffs, and even proposing a 25 percent universal import duty alongside a 100 percent penalty for Russian oil purchases.
Adding fuel to the fire, The New York Times recently headlined: “Modi’s ‘True Friend’ Trump Deals India Another Blow With Tariff Threats.” Yet India refuses to react. Talks continue, and Delhi has not yielded to U.S. demands to open up its agricultural and dairy sectors, despite sustained pressure.
Trump’s latest jibe compares India to Indonesia, praising Jakarta for allowing free U.S. imports and slashing tariffs on its own exports, urging India to “learn from a good boy.” India’s response? Silence.
This silence has confused many and frustrated Trump even more. His impatience boiled over in an August 1 tweet: “So hard to believe that PM Modi still hasn’t responded to my tweets, statements, or tariff concerns. We gave India so much—great deals, defence support, big crowds—and total silence. Not even thank you. Don’t forget I’m the one who got India the ceasefire.”
But India’s silence is not weakness—it is strategy. Foreign reports suggest that Trump pushed for the ceasefire not for India’s sake, but to protect U.S. nuclear arsenals in Pakistan. India’s missile strike on Pakistan’s Kinari Hills reportedly exposed sensitive locations. In return, Pakistan’s Gen. Asim Munir was granted an unprecedented lunch at the White House, well beyond diplomatic norms.
India has quietly exposed U.S. duplicity—without naming names or issuing threats. Even as domestic critics like Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi challenge Modi to “name Trump,” the government stays composed. The diplomatic cost of reacting in a polarised world may be higher than staying silent.
Why is Trump so unnerved? Possibly because he senses India’s quiet resistance. Despite claiming 30 times that he brokered peace, he now says: “I understand India is no longer buying Russian oil. That’s what I heard. Not sure if it’s true. That’s a good step.”
This is based on a speculative Reuters report about Indian state-run refiners scaling back Russian oil purchases. But what Trump doesn’t mention that these refiners account for only 10 percent of India’s Russian oil imports.
15000 Americans work in India
Trump should be told that there are an estimated 150,000 Americans working in India across various sectors. Nearly 30,000 US citizens find employment in India each year. Many of these jobs are with the over 1,000 US companies that have established operations in India, employing approximately one million people, according to U.S. News & World Report.
India, now the world’s third-largest oil importer, has become Russia’s biggest customer since 2022—buying up to 2 million barrels per day, nearly 2 percent of global supply. Other top buyers are China and Turkey. Russia’s dependence on India is such that if the India route is disrupted, the Kremlin could retaliate by shutting down the CPC pipeline from Kazakhstan, jeopardizing U.S. stakes held by Chevron and Exxon, as JP Morgan analysts recently warned.
India is now 35 percent reliant on Russian oil, importing goods worth $50.2 billion in 2024–25. Even a minor shift in India’s buying pattern could send diesel prices skyrocketing globally. Ironically, while India’s clean diesel saves Europe during winter, it is discouraged domestically for arbitrary environmental reasons.
Meanwhile, India has graciously opened doors for Elon Musk’s Tesla EVs—despite deep scepticism. Most Indians, barring Maharashtra’s Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, are cautious. Trump himself disparages battery vehicles, calling them unreliable and more polluting. Battery cars have stalled in many global markets. He wants ICE engines.
India has every right to be wary. The Tesla entry risks devastating India’s domestic auto industry, much like parthenium destroyed crops post-PL-480 food imports in 1960s. Add to this Trump’s push to force India to slash agricultural tariffs to just 5 percent —a direct threat to millions of Indian farmers. India must hold both Trump and Musk at arm’s length if it is serious about safeguarding manufacturing and agriculture. India can feed the world—it doesn’t need imported food diktats from a partner who rarely plays fair.
The U.S. has never supported Indian manufacturing. It systematically worked to dismantle indigenous industrial ecosystem, popularly called Ludhiana technology, since the 1970s, flooding the market with high-priced American goods. It succeeded in installing Manmohanomics, which opened Indian doors to jobless growth.
India can initiate tough steps on many American companies selling the unessential cold drinks, potato burgers and fried chicken. One closure would render millions jobless in America. Jobs are eluding them and a poor, in Trump’s words “dead” economy, sustains the mighty, but sinking, topmost “live economy”.
U.S. companies are among the insensitive employers. Now, the IT sector, once India’s pride, is also facing mass layoffs and uncertain futures—often tied to decisions made in American boardrooms.
Indians want these be severely prosecuted for flouting working norms and wage norms.
With strong macroeconomic fundamentals, robust domestic demand, fiscal discipline, high saving rates and demographic trends, India is now the fifth-largest economy in the world. Today, India’s leading economic contributors are traditional and modern agriculture, technology services, the handicraft industry, and business outsourcing. Succumbing to any foreign power even continuing a friendly relationship is not in the interest of the country.
Together, the offshore business centres in India earned about $65 billion last year, more than the value of American imports to India. By 2030, they are expected to earn $100 billion or more.
India would not mind being slapped with tariff. Indians do not share the official views of their government of trade ties with an economy that is at war with 69 countries. India would be happily be the 70th. Talks can’t be one-sided. If Trump wants it, he has to listen to India.
India’s strength today lies not in shouting matches but in measured, confident restraint. Its silence is not submission—it’s an emerging strategy —built on economic self-respect, global realism, and domestic strength. If Trump thinks silence is weakness, he may soon realise it’s the loudest warning India has ever issued—without speaking a word.