Peter Navarro is the White House trade adviser under Donald Trump. He currently serves as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing to U.S. president Donald Trump since January 2025. He has once again sparked controversy with fresh comments targeting India, just weeks into a deepening US-India trade deadlock. The incident has drawn global attention not just for what he said, but for the blunt tone and fierce criticism of India’s trade choices and technology use.
According to reports, Navarro appeared on the show Real America Voice with Steve Bannon and questioned why Americans were “paying for AI in India.” He said, “Why are Americans paying for AI in India? ChatGPT operates on US soil and uses American electricity, servicing large users of ChatGPT in India and China and elsewhere around the world.” He was implying that Americans are indirectly supporting foreign users of US-made artificial intelligence.
His remarks weren’t limited to tech. Navarro also brought up concerns about foreign farmland purchases, claiming foreign entities are buying agricultural land at “ten times the actual price,” and warning that this could push up food prices in the United States.
Peter Navarro has attacked India previously as well
This isn’t the first time Navarro has criticised India bluntly. He has been a key voice defending President Trump’s decision to impose a massive 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods which are largely tied to New Delhi’s continued buying of Russian crude oil. This move that has stalled a proposed trade deal between the two countries.
In the past, he’s used harsh phrases to describe India’s economic behaviour. He once called India the “maharaja of tariffs,” and said that the country has some of the highest tariffs in the world and non-tariff barriers that hurt American businesses. He also argued that India’s purchase of Russian oil funds Moscow’s war machine in Ukraine and even labelled India’s trade system a “laundromat,” as per reports.
Some of Navarro’s past attack lines were even more explosive. He drew sharp backlash after claiming “Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people,” a caste-referencing jab New Delhi dismissed as “inaccurate and misleading,” stressing that such remarks damage the long-standing relationship between the two democracies.
All these controversial statements have come amid rising strain in US-India relations. The steep tariffs which are a part of Trump’s attempt to pressure India over Russian oil imports have invited criticism that they could harm strategic ties that have been decades in the making.
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