Deepak Shenoy slams Trump's trade tirade against India, sets the record straight — Here's how

In a sharply worded post on the social media platform X, Deepak Shenoy, founder and CEO of Capitalmind, called out US President Donald Trump’s tirade against India over trade.

India finds itself in the crosshairs as Trump looks to restore balance and boost demand for American-made goods by slapping tariffs on countries globally. Trump argues that he wants to reduce the trade deficit with countries, as America has been taken advantage of by "cheaters" and "pillaged" by foreigners.

Against this backdrop, he has slapped tariffs of up to 50% on countries, with India being the biggest casualty. Along with 25% tariffs on trade, we face an additional 25% levy for importing discounted Russian oil. However, India has so far refused to back down and continues to buy oil from Russia.

India-US Trade Ties Deteriorate

Trump has long framed trade as a zero-sum game, often targeting countries like India for allegedly taking advantage of the US. But the data tells a different story.

On February 13, 2025, President Trump claimed the US had a $100 billion trade deficit with India, though the actual figure is under $45 billion, as per an ANI report.

Meanwhile, Deepak Shenoy pointed out that the US has a trade surplus with India in services. His point was corroborated by GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava, who had said back in March, "This trade deficit narrative is misleading and incomplete" as the US "quietly" rakes in $80-85 billion every year from India through education, digital services, financial operations, intellectual property royalties, and arms sales.

"These massive earnings don't show up in the narrow goods trade statistics. When you factor them in, the US isn't running a deficit with India at all -- it's sitting on a USD 35-40 billion surplus," said Srivastava in the report, as per the ANI report.

"Trump is going batshit insane on this rant about India doing less trade but we just buy a lot more from China, just like America does," Shenoy said.

When it comes to defence trade, Shenoy rightly notes that India’s limited purchases of American weapons systems are rooted in trust issues. For decades, the US military has supported Pakistan — including arms and aid — which has made India cautious.

Shenoy further added, "We actually diverted a lot of oil purchases to the US after they removed some stupid rule that didn't allow them to export oil."

According to a Reuters report, Indian refiners boosted US crude oil purchases in August, drawn by competitive prices.

Meanwhile, Shenoy called out that US tariffs — especially on Indian textile exports — remain high. On top of that, Indian pharmaceutical companies face significant non-tariff barriers, such as FDA inspections and illogical rulings.

Shenoy ends his post on X, stating that Trump is alienating India, and we really want to get to a situation where we don't have to care.

His statement also reflects a broader mood in Indian policy circles — the desire to trade and collaborate with the US, but not at the cost of sovereignty and strategic independence.

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