Republican senator says ‘Vance, sometimes Trump’ blocked US trade deal with India: Report

United States Senator Ted Cruz told donors of the Republican party in the past year that he had been “battling” the White House to secure a trade agreement with India, but White House economic adviser Peter Navarro, US Vice President JD Vance and, “sometimes”, President Donald Trump were resisting the deal, according to audio recordings obtained by Axios.

Without a trade deal with Washington, Indian goods are facing a combined US tariff rate of 50%. A 25% so-called reciprocal duty was imposed on August 7, followed by an additional 25% punitive levy on August 27.

The punitive tariffs were introduced as part of Trump’s pressure campaign against countries purchasing discounted oil from Russia amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

The audio recordings, around 10 minutes in length, were reportedly provided to Axios by an unidentified Republican member and were recorded in early and mid-2025 during closed-door meetings with donors.

In the recordings, Cruz, who is also a member of the Republican party, reportedly also criticised the Trump administration’s tariff-driven trade policy.

Trump has been using punitive tariffs as a trade policy since the beginning of his second term in office in January 2025.

Cruz told donors that the tariffs could “decimate the economy and lead to his [Trump’s] impeachment”, Axios reported.

He also said that after Trump announced a policy...

Read more