India among big ones US needs to ‘fix’: Trump aide

Days after both External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal held talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on trade and tariffs, a senior aide to President Donald Trump has bluntly declared that Washington will “have to fix India”.

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, in an unusually sharp remarks, listed India among countries that he said were not giving American businesses fair access. “India -- these are countries that need to really react correctly to America. Open their markets, stop taking actions that harm America and that’s why we’re off sides with them,” Lutnick told a US news channel.

The comments come at a sensitive time in bilateral relations, with Washington last month slapping steep duties on Indian exports, citing New Delhi’s energy ties with Moscow. The US has also hiked fees for H-1B work permits, worrying Indian IT companies.

Lutnick stressed that countries wanting to sell into the American market must “play ball” with President Trump’s administration. “If you want to sell to the US consumer, you’ve got to play ball with the President,” he said. He grouped India with Brazil and Taiwan as “big ones” that Washington intended to sort out, contrasting them with smaller economies like Switzerland.

The sharp tone contrasts with the official US readout of the Jaishankar-Rubio talks, which highlighted cooperation in defence, energy, critical minerals and pharmaceuticals alongside trade issues. Indian officials, too, have described the discussions as constructive, with Goyal promoting India as a prime investment destination during his visit to the US earlier this week.

Goyal had joined EAM Jaishankar in talks with US Secretary Rubio in New York on September 22, where trade and tariff issues dominated discussions. The meeting, held on the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly, was the first high-level engagement between Jaishankar and Rubio since Washington imposed steep tariffs on Indian exports last month.