(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said India’s recent increase in tariffs on U.S. goods is “unacceptable” and should be withdrawn, ratcheting up tension against the Asian nation before a planned meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“India, for years having put very high Tariffs against the United States, just recently increased the Tariffs even further,” Trump said in a Twitter post, his first direct response to India’s move earlier this month to increase tariffs on a slew of products from walnuts to pulses.
New Delhi slapped tariffs on nearly 30 American products in response to higher duties imposed by the U.S. and Trump’s move June 1 to end trade concessions on $6.3 billion of Indian goods.
Trump is due to hold a trilateral meeting with Modi and Japan’s Shinzo Abe on June 28 in Osaka. The U.S. leader’s comments are the latest in a string of disputes against nations he says have benefited from unfair trade deals with the U.S.