U.S. President Donald Trump claimed at the APEC summit in South Korea that he had threatened India and Pakistan with 250% tariffs if they failed to end their May conflict. He said he called both nations’ leaders to urge a ceasefire, warning of trade suspension. While Pakistan praised Trump’s mediation, India denied any U.S. role. The U.S. later imposed tariffs on both countries, with ongoing trade talks between Washington and New Delhi. The conflict stemmed from attacks in Kashmir that escalated into airstrikes before a ceasefire was reached.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 250% tariff on India and Pakistan if they failed to end their conflict. He made the claim on Wednesday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.
Referring to the clashes that took place in May, Trump said, “If you look at India and Pakistan and their retaliatory attacks... you’ll see they were moving toward a major conflict.” He also mentioned that “seven aircraft were shot down” during the skirmishes between the two neighboring countries.
Trump claimed he had called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani leaders to urge them to stop the fighting. He warned that if they did not agree, he would halt trade with them and impose heavy tariffs.
“I said I’d impose a 250% tariff on both countries,” Trump said. “That basically means you can’t do business... It was my polite way of saying we don’t want to trade with you.”
The audience applauded Trump’s remarks.
Trump had made similar claims before, which India previously denied. When Reuters sought comments from the foreign ministries of India and Pakistan regarding Trump’s latest remarks, neither country responded immediately.
Earlier, India’s Ministry of External Affairs stated that during a phone call in June, Modi told Trump there had been no discussion about trade or U.S. mediation during the four-day conflict.
New Delhi has consistently maintained that the May clashes ended at Pakistan’s request, meaning the United States or any third party had no role in the ceasefire. Islamabad, however, thanked Trump for his “mediation efforts” and even nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for helping end the conflict.
At the APEC summit, Trump said both sides initially rejected his call for a ceasefire but later agreed.
“They both said, ‘No, no, no, let us keep fighting.’ But two days later, they called and said, ‘We understand,’ and then they stopped fighting,” Trump said.
Later, the Trump administration imposed tariffs of up to 25% on certain Indian goods, along with an additional 25% tariff for India’s purchase of oil from Russia. However, Washington and New Delhi are currently in talks to lower tariffs and finalize a trade agreement.
On the other hand, Pakistan initially faced a 29% tariff, which was later reduced to 19%.
The tension between the two nations escalated after an armed group attacked Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, killing 26 people. India accused Pakistan of involvement in the attack, which Islamabad strongly denied.
Following the incident, tensions between the two countries flared up again. On May 7, India carried out airstrikes on several targets in Pakistan, prompting retaliatory strikes. After four days of missile and drone attacks, both countries agreed to a ceasefire on May 10.