Fact Check: No, India has not pledged to side with the US in tariff war against China
Siddharth Urmil 
Claim
A viral post has claimed that India has declared to side with the US against China in the Trade War.
A user named Ron De Santis News has made this post on April 22, 2025.
Meanwhile, there are many users who have shared this same claim online. Links to those claims are here, here, and here.
Fact Check
To investigate the viral claim, the DFRAC conducted a keyword search with relevant term. No news reports of such sorts appeared online. Besides this, our team encountered news reports on US Vice President JD Vance visit to India. According to a news report by Al Jazeera, PM Narendra Modi and Vice President JD Vance discussed on various issues regarding India-US relations. Particular stress was given upon bilateral trade agreement that would allow the two countries to avoid a tariff war.
This news report, further informed about how the Indian farmers are apprehensive of such negotiations. They view tariffs as a means to shield agriculture from being swamped by produce from other countries. Farmers are critical of this development fearing; it might weaken the protections from goods from foreign countries – if such a bilateral trade get struck with Trump administration.
However, another news report states that India has imposed a temporary tariff on some steel imports. These tariffs on steel imports will basically hit the cheap Chinese shipments.
India imposed a 12% tariff to safeguard on some steel products to reduce unchecked imports. This tariff has come after the recommendation of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), which comes under the Commerce and Trade Ministry. It had recommended a 12% tariff on some steel product for 200 days to remove the cheap imports.
However, a news report suggests that India must strategically engage with both the US and China, and should refrain from sliding with either side in the ongoing tariff war. This news article had quoted a founder of a research group, Ajay Srivastava.
Conclusion
Hence, the fact check by DFRAC shows that the claim made is fake. There are no news reports that suggests that India has pledged to side with the USA in the tariff wars against China. However, India is engaging with the USA to decrease the brunt of increased tariff applied by President Trump, to get a bilateral trade deal struck. And on the other front, India levying a 12% tariff on steel imports, a move that will affect China.
Aayushi Rana 
Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui 