'Negotiate As Friends': Singer Mary Millben Urges US-India Unity Amid Trump's Tariff Tantrums

Last Updated:August 06, 2025, 09:38 IST

Mary Millben has called on Donald Trump and PM Modi to resolve tariff disputes amicably, stressing that both countries need each other.

A file photo of PM Modi with Donald Trump (AP)/PM Modi, Donald Trump/Mary Millben (Facebook)

African-American singer Mary Millben has opined that India and the United States need each other and that the “muscular verbiage" on tariffs between the two countries is causing trouble for all.

In a social media post, Millben wrote that multiple small businesses in the US and India are also being affected in the “tariff tug of war" and that the two countries must “negotiate as real friends".

“I’ll say again: America needs India, and India needs America. Any direction in policy that strains our strategic alliance is the wrong direction," the singer wrote on X.

“@POTUS and @NarendraModi, my beloved leaders, this exchange of “muscular verbiage" on tariffs is troubling us all. Furthermore, countless small businesses in the US and India are hurting in this ‘tariff tug of war." I speak to them daily," she added.

“Remember, we need each other. Negotiate as real friends. Find common ground. Your legacies and the well-being of our countries depend on this moment," Millben wrote on X.

The singer’s post comes hours after Donald Trump on Tuesday said India has not been a good trading partner and announced that he will raise the tariffs on New Delhi “very substantially" over the next 24 hours because it is buying Russian oil.

“With India, what people don’t like to say about India, they’re the highest tariff nation. They have the highest tariff of anybody. We do very, very little business with India because their tariffs are so high," Trump said in an interview with CNBC Squawk Box.

“India has not been a good trading partner, because they do a lot of business with us, but we don’t do business with them. So we settled on 25 per cent (tariff), but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they’re buying Russian oil. They’re fuelling the war machine. And if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy," he added.

When asked about the trade deal with India that seemed imminent, Trump said the “sticking point" with India is that its tariffs are too high.

Hours later, India mounted an unusually sharp counterattack on the US and the European Union for their “unjustified and unreasonable" targeting of New Delhi for its procurement of Russian crude oil.

Firmly rejecting the criticism, India pointed out the double standards in targeting it on the issue and said both the US and the EU are continuing their trade relations with Russia.

“Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

Earlier, Russia defended India’s right to select trade partners, saying sovereign countries have the right to select their partners in trade and economic cooperation based on their interests.

“We believe that sovereign countries must have and do have the right to choose their trade partners, the partners in trade and economic cooperation, on their own and independently determine those modes of trade and economic cooperation that suit the interests of a country in question," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

ALSO READ | ‘Don’t Know Anything’: Trump Caught Off Guard As India Calls Out US Over Russian Purchases

Vani Mehrotra

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

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First Published:

August 06, 2025, 09:27 IST

News world 'Negotiate As Friends': Singer Mary Millben Urges US-India Unity Amid Trump's Tariff Tantrums

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