Navarro renews attack on Delhi, asks why Americans ‘paying for AI in India’

White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro renewed his criticism of India, questioning why Americans are paying for Artificial Intelligence in India.

Mr. Navarro’s comments on Saturday, January 17, 2026, came amid a tension in India-US relations that began after US President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on purchases of Russian crude by New Delhi, including a 25% surcharge.

In an interview on Voice of Real AmericaMr. Navarro said: “…why are Americans paying for AI in India? Chat GPT operates on US soil, uses American electricity, serving large Chat GPT users in India, China and other parts of the world, for example. So that’s another issue that needs to be addressed.”

His comments come at a time when ties between New Delhi and Washington are strained over several issues other than tariffs, including Mr Trump’s claim to end the India-Pakistan conflict in May last year and Washington’s new immigration policy.

Over the past year, Mr. Navarro has repeatedly slammed India over Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil and high tariffs, calling India the “Maharajah of customs.”

He had also termed India’s purchases of Russian oil as “blood money” and said Delhi didn’t buy oil from Moscow in large quantities before the Ukraine conflict.

New Delhi, like other major economies, has maintained that it will take all necessary measures to protect its national interests and economic security.

In his scathing criticism of the BRICS countries, Mr. Navarro said the “bottom line” was that none of the countries in the group “can survive unless they sell to the United States. And when they sell their exports to the United States, they are like vampires sucking our blood through unfair trade practices.”