, Columnist
Modi Needs the White House Off His Back
The Indian prime minister’s priority should be to avoid a penal US tariff, not escalate the war of words.
Modi needs to defuse the tariff conflict.
Photographer: NIHARIKA KULKARNI/AFP/Getty Images
What began as a US-China trade war has suddenly turned into an open and ugly confrontation between Washington and New Delhi. Donald Trump has escalated the conflict, but the onus for defusing it is squarely with Narendra Modi — and both sides know it.
With less than two days to go before the US president’s reciprocal trade taxes come into effect, he’s doubling down on his threat to impose a “substantially higher” tariff on India than the 25% already announced.