50% Tariffs On India As Trump Could Not Mediate India-Pakistan Conflict: Jefferies

The reason the United States slapped steep 50 per cent tariffs on India is because President Donald Trump was not allowed to mediate in the India-Pakistan conflict, according to a report by American multinational investment bank and financial services company Jefferies.

The report stated that such high unprecedented tariffs were a "consequence" of Trump's "personal pique" and that he reportedly hoped to intervene in the May conflict between the two South Asian nuclear powers.

"Tariffs are primarily the consequence of the American president's personal pique that he was not allowed to play a role in seeking to end the long-running acrimony between India and Pakistan," the report noted.

India has repeated that it does not welcome interventions by other countries in conflicts with Pakistan. 

Trump has claimed on multiple occasions that he ended several conflicts around the world including the one between India and Pakistan with the White House claiming that he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

"It's well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had said in July.

Earlier this year, he posted on Truth Social, "I will work with you both to see if, after a thousand years, a solution can be arrived at, concerning Kashmir." The mediation offer hit a raw nerve with India.

Despite facing the prospect of heavy economic costs, India held on to its "red line" of no third-party intervention.

Another point that the report stated drove home the tariffs was agriculture. It highlighted that no Indian government has agreed to open up the agriculture sector to imports in order to protect its farmers.

About 250 million farmers and labourers depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. 40 per cent of the workforce in India is employed in agriculture.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had remarked earlier this month that India has been a "bit recalcitrant" on trade negotiations with the US.

Responding to the tariffs, India had said that the targeting of India is "unjustified and unreasonable".

The Jefferies report warned that pushing India risks it being close to China. The two countries will also resume direct flights after five years from September.