US Congressman Warns of Cooling India-US Ties Over Tariffs and China Challenge
Raja Krishnamoorthi describes bilateral relationship as “cold and frigid,” criticises high tariffs on India and stresses strategic partnership against China
CHICAGO, Dec 15: Influential US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi warned that the India–US relationship has entered a “cold and frigid” phase, cautioning that recent policy decisions could undermine a partnership nurtured over three decades.
Speaking at the India Abroad Dialogue in Chicago, Krishnamoorthi said the bilateral relationship “should be warm” and “continuing to rise in importance,” but recent policy shifts have moved it “for the worse,” despite India being “one of the largest economies in the world” and the “largest democracy in the world.”
Krishnamoorthi emphasised India’s strategic value beyond economics, highlighting shared commitments to equality, freedom, democracy, minority rights, secularism and free enterprise.
He sharply criticised the Trump administration’s proposed 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, calling it “arbitrary” and “capricious.” “A 50 per cent tariff on India doesn’t make any sense. It has no basis in any kind of logic,” he said, warning that such trade measures could strain a crucial strategic partnership. He added that imposing higher tariffs on India than on China was “strategically counterproductive,” especially given India’s role as a partner in countering China’s global influence.
On China, Krishnamoorthi called it a “triple threat economic, military and technological,” accusing Beijing of intellectual property theft, market flooding with subsidised goods, and weaponising monopolies for coercion, spanning industries from steel and solar to electric vehicles.
The Congressman also defended legal immigration, describing Indian Americans as “the greatest export of India” and “bridge builders” between New Delhi and Washington. He warned that rising anti-Indian sentiment in the US, citing a recent incident in Florida, was “deeply disturbing.”
Krishnamoorthi’s remarks come amid an ongoing expansion of the India–US strategic partnership since the early 2000s, covering defence cooperation, technology and trade, with both nations continuing to view each other as central partners in balancing China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.
The India Abroad Dialogue, a 10-city tour that began in Detroit, is being held in partnership with the Foundation of India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), the US Indian Community Foundation, and other community organisations.
