Published: August 7, 2025 11:49 AM IST 
US President Donald Trump has been making strong and aggressive statements about India, but when it comes to China, he seems unusually quiet. During his election campaign, Trump had made harsh remarks against China and used that to build support. However, after about six months in office, it now seems like he is backing down in front of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
While Trump is attacking India with strong words and high tariffs, many experts feel he is acting soft with China. This is surprising because, for the past 25 years, the U.S. has been building close ties with India to counter China’s growing power. Many American think tanks believe that China is the biggest challenge to US global leadership and not India.
In an article for the Carnegie Endowment, Evan A. Feigenbaum, a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State who worked on India-U.S. relations, warned that Trump’s approach could cause long-term harm. He wrote, “After more than two decades of bipartisan efforts to strengthen India-U.S. ties including progress made during Trump’s first term, the president now seems to be tearing down what took years to build.”
Recently, Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports, and now he is threatening to raise tariffs on Indian pharmaceutical exports to 250 per cent.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Donald Trump said he plans to slowly increase tariffs on medicines imported from India. He stated: “We’ll start with a small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but within a year or a year and a half, it will go up to 150 per cent, and eventually to 250 per cent, because we want those medicines to be made in the U.S.”
He also warned that he might announce new tariffs on India within the next 24 hours.
Looking at trade numbers, it’s clear that the US has a much bigger trade deficit with China than with India.
Even in terms of buying Russian oil, coal, and gas, China imports much more than India. Still, Trump’s policies are hitting India harder, while China still enjoys getting trade leniency.
Despite strong political statements from Europe about not supporting Russian energy, the European Union remains the biggest buyer of Russian LNG (liquefied natural gas). According to CERA data: The EU bought 51 per cent of Russia’s LNG exports and China bought 21 per cent, and Japan 18 per cent.
For Russian pipeline gas, the EU bought 37 per cent, followed by China (30 per cent) and Turkey (27 per cent). But even with these facts, Trump seems to single out India as the main culprit.
According to The Wall Street Journal, China has sharply reduced the export of rare earth minerals to the U.S. and it’s having a serious impact on America’s defense production. From fighter jets to bullets, the U.S. weapons industry is facing major disruptions.
Earlier this year, when Trump imposed a 145 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, Beijing retaliated by cutting off the supply of rare earth elements. These minerals are crucial for making advanced military equipment, including:
This move hit the U.S. hard. Within weeks, Trump lowered the tariff back to 30 per cent, as American defense manufacturers struggled to keep up production.
Leonardo DRS, a major U.S. defense contractor, revealed it only has a limited “security stock” of germanium left. Defense software company Govini warned that over 80,000 components in U.S. military systems depend on materials supplied by China.
This supply crisis explains why Trump, who once campaigned on being tough on China, is now hesitant to criticize Beijing. Even though he had promised to hold China accountable, the reality is that America’s military might depends on Chinese materials. And that’s why, today, Trump appears unusually soft when it comes to China, choosing silence over confrontation, even as he turns up the heat on India.
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