 "'Will be substantially raising the tariff paid by India', Trump threatens as New Delhi stands by national interest")
United States President Donald Trump on Monday (August 4) threatened to sharply raise tariffs on Indian goods, criticising New Delhi for profiting from Russian oil purchases amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
He also accused Indian leadership of not caring about “how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.”
Trump did not specify the new rates. However, officials familiar with the matter said a 10 per cent tariff currently applied on a broad range of Indian goods is expected to rise to 25 per cent by Thursday (August 7).
The move comes as Trump escalates pressure on Moscow, warning of fresh sanctions if Russia does not show progress towards a peace deal with Ukraine by Friday.
How has India responded?
India has addressed how the United States and European Union have targeted the country for importing oil from Russia after the commencement of the Ukraine conflict. “India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability,” an official statement said.
India also pointed out the duplicity of the nations criticising India, in that they are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. “The European Union in 2024 had a bilateral trade of Euro 67.5 billion in goods with Russia.”
“Where the United States is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals.”
Impact Shorts
View AllCiting this background, New Delhi said that “the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable.”
With inputs from agencies