News Brief
After India Rejects Pressure Over Russian Oil, Trump Imposes Additional 25 Per Cent Tariff—Total Now At 50 Per Cent
US President Donald Trump (File Photo)
US President Donald Trump announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports Wednesday (6 August) night, pushing total duties to 50 per cent, NDTV reported.
He claimed it was a "penalty" for India’s oil trade with Russia, even as US and its allies continue similar imports from Moscow.
The new duties place Indian goods under a 50 per cent tariff—significantly higher than the 30 per cent rate on Chinese imports and more than double Pakistan’s 19 per cent, despite India being a top US strategic partner.
In his executive order, Trump justified the move by accusing India of importing Russian oil, stating it “necessary” to impose ad valorem duties—without acknowledging that both the US and EU also continue Russian energy imports.
"I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to impose an additional ad valorem duty on imports of articles of India, which is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil," Trump said in his executive order.
Trump’s move followed a televised outburst where he slammed India as "not a good trading partner" and threatened a tariff increase—ignoring India’s long-standing security and economic cooperation with the US.
"India has not been a good trading partner... we settled on 25 percent... but I think I'm going to raise that substantially over the next 24 hours because they're buying Russian oil," he told a US broadcaster.
His remarks risk upending relations with India, the world’s fifth-largest economy.
Trump had already decreed on July 30 that India would face 25 per cent tariffs plus penalties for continued Russian energy and defense purchases—though no such penalties were announced for NATO countries doing the same.
That announcement came just before a deadline for reciprocal tariffs Trump had earlier postponed.
He escalated tensions further by describing India’s regulatory environment as “strenuous and obnoxious.”
"... India is our friend (but) we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world. And they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country," he had said.
India hit back by highlighting ongoing Russian trade by Western countries—including the US—underscoring the hypocrisy in Trump’s selective outrage.
The government said its buying Russian oil was "a necessity compelled by the global market situation", while countries criticising "indulge in trade... for products that are not "a vital compulsion".
India pointed to the European Union buying 67.5 billion euros of liquified natural gas, or LNG, from Russia in 2024 and United States' continued Uranium and Palladium imports from Moscow.
