President Trump complained Monday about the “one-sided” U.S.-India trade relationship, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin at a regional summit in open defiance of the U.S. leader.

Mr. Trump said New Delhi closed off Indian markets and charged high tariffs on U.S. goods even as it tapped into the rich American market as its biggest “client.”

“It has been a totally one-sided disaster! Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S.,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social. “They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago.”

Mr. Trump recently slapped an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods entering the U.S. as punishment for India’s purchases of discounted Russian oil. The new levy brought the tariff rate on Indian imports to a whopping 50%.

The administration says India is funding Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine even as Mr. Trump works to bring the conflict to an end.

Mr. Trump signaled Monday that, besides Russia, he is concerned about the underlying trade imbalance.

“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us,” he wrote. “In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest ‘client,’ but we sell them very little — Until now, a totally one-sided relationship, and it has been for many decades.”

Reflecting that imbalance, the U.S. trade deficit with India was $45.8 billion in 2024, a nearly 6% increase from 2023, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Critics of Mr. Trump fear the crackdown on India, a key strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific, will push India closer to China.

Mr. Modi refuses to back down over his country’s purchases of Russian oil and leaned in Monday at a summit in Tianjin, China, where he embraced Mr. Putin and joined hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The striking image was a not-so-subtle jab at Mr. Trump.

Mr. Xi, in opening remarks, urged regional partners to oppose a “Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and bullying.”

Mr. Modi posted photographs of himself with Mr. Putin on social media, saying they had an “excellent” meeting.

“Conversations with him are always insightful,” he posted.

Mr. Trump’s ability to impose sweeping levies on other nations is in legal limbo after a federal appeals court ruled Friday that he overstepped in invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to enact the tariff.

A panel ruled, 7-4, that the law did not empower a president to issue sweeping tariffs on other nations, though Mr. Trump’s sector-specific tariffs on things like cars and steel were not impacted.

The court allowed the tariffs to remain in place until mid-October, as Mr. Trump plans an appeal to the Supreme Court. The president says a permanent ruling against his tariffs would devastate the U.S. and months of hard work on trade negotiations.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.