News Brief
India Points To US-Russia Trade Amid Tariff Threat; Trump Responds With Denial, Says He’ll “Check It Out”
US President Donald Trump
As the US escalates tariff threats against India over its Russian oil imports, President Donald Trump claimed ignorance of Washington’s own uranium and fertiliser trade with Moscow — a defence India has used to point out the Western hypocrisy.
Trump signaled plans to raise tariffs on countries maintaining trade with Russia, though he stopped short of revealing any specific figures or timelines, NDTV reported.
When asked about India's claim that Washington was singling it out unfairly while continuing to do business with Moscow itself, Trump said,
"I don't know anything about it. I have to check it out".
Trump made the comments during a White House press conference convened to discuss the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where questions on foreign trade took centre stage.
Despite three years passing since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the US continues to import billions in Russian energy and commodities, such as enriched uranium.
Between January 2022 and now, US imports from Russia have totaled $24.51 billion — with 2024 alone seeing purchases of $1.27 billion in fertilisers, $624 million in uranium and plutonium, and nearly $878 million in palladium.
Asked about his supposed threat of a 100 per cent tariff on nations importing Russian energy, Trump replied, “I never said a percentage... We’ll be doing quite a bit of that... We’ll see what happens... We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow.”
Former US Ambassador Nikki Haley criticised Trump’s proposed tariff hikes, accusing him of giving China “a pass” while risking ties with India — a key American ally.
In a post on X, Haley pointed out that China — America’s adversary and the top buyer of Russian and Iranian oil — had received a 90-day tariff pause from the Trump administration.
"India should not be buying oil from Russia. But China, an adversary and the number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil, got a 90-day tariff pause. Don't give China a pass and burn a relationship with a strong ally like India," she said.
Trump on Tuesday said he would increase the tariff charged on imports from India from the current rate of 25 per cent "very substantially" over the next 24 hours due to New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil.
"They're fueling the war machine, and if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy," Trump told CNBC in an interview.
Trump also mentioned high Indian tariffs as a key concern but refrained from specifying any revised rate or action plan.
