‘Donald Trump Misplayed His Hand With India’: Ex-Australian PM Tony Abbott On US Tariffs

PM Modi with US President Donald Trump at White House (Image/X@WhiteHouse)

Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has opined that US President Donald Trump has misplayed his hand with India by imposing massive tariffs on the country’s imports, NDTV reported.

Abbott also referred to Pakistan and pointed out Washington’s inclement towards Pakistan during its tariff row with India.

“I am a supporter of President Trump, but I think he misplayed his hand with India recently when he imposed those punitive tariffs, particularly given there are other countries that are cheating here, especially China, that didn’t get the same kind of treatment,” he said at the NDTV World Summit.

“America’s fundamental interests lie in a strong friendship with India compared to Pakistan,” he said.

“India’s fundamental interests lie in a strong partnership with fellow democracies much less than with dictatorships,” he added.

“I think this (tariffs) is a serious setback. But given the fundamental community of interest and values that India does have with the democracies, I think it will only be a temporary setback, but let’s hope that this can be remedied very quickly,” Abbott said at the event.

In August this year, the Donald Trump administration raised the tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent, which included 25 per cent tariff as a penalty for India’s energy purchases from Russia.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said that fiscal consolidation and strong coordination between monetary and fiscal policies have played a key role in helping India manage inflation while supporting economic growth during challenging times marked by tariffs and global uncertainty.

The RBI Governor made these remarks during his interaction with Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as part of the Annual Meetings of the IMF.

Responding to a question on how challenging it has been for emerging markets like India to manage inflation amid rising tariffs and commodity price volatility, Malhotra said that a coordinated approach between the central bank and fiscal authorities has been crucial.

“A coordinated effort with the fiscal authorities, identifying what the pressure points are, both on the demand side and supply side, and this coordinated action really helped us,” he stated.