Lawmakers Warn Trump He Is Losing India, Hurting American Consumers

WASHINGTON, DC- US lawmakers and senior foreign policy experts have described the United States’ partnership with India as “a defining relationship of the 21st century,” warning that Chinese aggression requires deeper military, economic, and technological coordination between Washington and New Delhi. However, sharp political criticism dominated a major Congressional hearing, with Democrats warning that President Donald Trump’s tariff regime and confrontational approach could inflict long-term damage on this vital alliance.

Opening a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia hearing on the US–India strategic partnership on December 10, Chairman Congressman Bill Huizenga said the relationship “is no longer just important. It is a defining relationship of the 21st century.” He stressed that “if America wants a free Indo-Pacific… our partnership with India is critical,” warning that an “increasingly aggressive China threatens regional stability.”

Witnesses told lawmakers that India has shown the “stiffest resistance” to Chinese pressure. Jeff Smith of the Heritage Foundation noted that India “has engaged in… stopping Chinese coercion at their border,” and unlike the US, “it was able to ban TikTok essentially overnight.” He added that India “has put up fierce restrictions on Chinese investments” and has become one of Washington’s most consequential strategic partners.

India’s role, experts testified, extends across domains, from maritime deterrence to intelligence-sharing and emerging technologies. Smith detailed that the two countries are “tracking Chinese submarines together in the Indian Ocean,” conducting joint patrols in the South China Sea, and holding mountain warfare exercises in the Himalayas.

Dhruva Jaishankar of ORF America said the partnership has grown because of “economic opportunities for both countries” and a shared concern about China’s rise, citing Beijing’s military mobilization in 2020 which “resulted in clashes in which 20 Indian military personnel lost their lives.” Jaishankar added that China’s network of ports and naval assets across the Indo-Pacific “might be used to secure critical choke points.”

Despite this progress, lawmakers voiced concern that recent US trade actions, including steep tariffs, were destabilizing ties. Democratic Ranking Member Sydney Kamlager-Dove sharply criticized the administration’s approach, saying Trump “will be the American President that lost India,” and warning that coercive trade measures “are doing real and lasting damage” to strategic trust.

Kamlager-Dove accused Trump of unravelling decades of bipartisan progress, noting the previous administration had handed him “a bilateral relationship at the height of its strength,” only for it to be “flush, flush, flush down the toilet.” She warned that history may judge Trump harshly, stating, “You do not get a Nobel Peace Prize by driving strategic partners into the arms of our adversaries.”

“The tariff rate on India is currently higher than the tariff rate on China,” Kamlager-Dove said, calling the policy self-defeating. Democrats also faulted Trump for attacking people-to-people ties through a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, “70 per cent of which are held by Indians.”

India’s concerns also extend to Washington’s renewed engagement with Pakistan’s military leadership. Jaishankar said India’s view, shaped by “a long and well-documented history” of Pakistan using terrorist proxies, is that “third-party mediation has often contributed to Pakistan’s adventurism.”

Witnesses and lawmakers agreed the partnership remains vital. Sameer Lalwani of the German Marshall Fund said India can “shoulder more day-to-day security responsibilities in the Indian Ocean,” complicate Chinese military planning, and provide industrial capacity in crises, but cautioned that a “say-do gap” in implementing major initiatives, including defense co-production, risks slowing momentum. Huizenga and Smith urged expanded coordination around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, calling it “an extremely valuable asset” for maritime security.

In their assessments, experts argued that despite the friction, the logic of deeper engagement is overwhelming. Jaishankar said both sides can still achieve “$500 billion in trade by 2030,” expanded cooperation on AI and defense, and new corridors linking the Middle East and Europe. Bilateral trade already exceeds $200 billion annually, and both nations see each other as central to balancing China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. (IANS)