United States President Donald Trump said on Monday he will substantially raise tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil.
Trump last week said he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods imported from India and added that the world’s fifth-largest economy would also face an unspecified penalty, but gave no details. Later, Trump mounted a sharp attack and said: “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.”
Over the weekend, two Indian government sources told Reuters that India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Trump’s threats. In turn, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller had accused India of effectively financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow.
In a post on Truth Social today, Trump assailed New Delhi for buying Russian oil and then selling it.
“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 wrote. “They don’t care 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,” the US president wrote.
India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, is the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude, a vital revenue earner for Russia as it wages war in Ukraine for a fourth year.
The US levy on India exceeds those agreed by some other nations in deals with the Trump administration. For example, the tariff on Vietnam is set at 20pc and on Indonesia at 19pc, with levies of 15pc on Japanese and European Union exports.
Last week, Trump said Washington had reached a trade deal with India’s arch-rival Pakistan that Islamabad said would lead to lower tariffs on its exports.
Since India’s short but deadly conflict with Pakistan in May, New Delhi has been unhappy about Trump’s closeness with Islamabad and has protested, casting a shadow over trade talks.
Despite former public displays of bonhomie between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has taken a slightly harder stance against the US in recent weeks.
Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the India-Pakistan ceasefire he announced on social media on May 10, but India disputes his claim that it resulted from his intervention and trade threats.
By declaring the Indian economy dead in the water, Trump has put Modi and his party in a bind. Until recently, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was canvassing support for the US president’s election. Its supporters were holding special prayers and muttering mystical chants for Trump’s victory. There was at least one temple created where a sculptured image of Trump was worshipped.
But Trump has ignored the lavish praise and called out India’s energy imports from Russia and its tariff regime as non-negotiable.
The Indian government said it was trying to figure out a response by consulting all the “stakeholders”, a euphemism for angry businesses whose hopes were riding on Modi’s daring ability to play both sides of the street.
That appears to have hit a dead-end.