WASHINGTON– U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned he will impose higher tariffs on India within the next 24 hours over its purchases of Russian oil and the resale of related products abroad, even as he claimed New Delhi had agreed to offer zero tariffs to U.S. goods.
Trump, who last week announced a 25 percent tariff on India, told CNBC, “I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they’re buying Russian oil.”
“India went from the highest tariffs ever to zero tariffs, and they can go in,” he added. “But that’s not good enough because of what they’re doing with oil — not good.” He did not specify the penalty rate for Russian oil-related trade.
The president singled out India despite China, Turkey, and the European Union also buying Russian oil, accusing New Delhi of reselling products derived from it at significant profit.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs dismissed Trump’s threat as “unjustified and unreasonable,” pointing to U.S. and EU imports from Russia — including uranium hexafluoride, palladium, fertilizers, and chemicals. “In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable,” the ministry said, adding that India would take “all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.”
While avoiding mention of China’s purchases, the ministry underscored that the EU’s trade with Russia reached $67.5 billion last year, and the U.S. continued importing key materials.
Trump, meanwhile, said a trade deal with China was coming “very soon” and accused India of “fueling the war machine” in Ukraine by buying Russian oil. India is the largest importer of Russian crude, accounting for about 70 percent of Moscow’s exports.
Asked whether restricting India’s oil imports could raise global prices, Trump replied, “I’m not worried about prices because we’re drilling at levels that nobody’s ever seen before.”
He also hinted at steep tariffs on Indian pharmaceuticals — the country’s largest export category to the U.S., valued at $8.7 billion — suggesting rates could reach 200 percent within two years.
“The sticking point with India is that tariffs are too high,” Trump said. “They have the highest tariff of anybody. We do very, very little business with India because their tariffs are so high. So India has not been a good trading partner.”
According to the U.S. Trade Representative, bilateral trade in goods totaled $128.9 billion last year, with U.S. exports to India up 3 percent to $41.5 billion and imports from India rising 4.5 percent to $87.3 billion — leaving the U.S. with a $45.8 billion trade deficit.
Reacting to Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We believe that sovereign countries have the right to choose their own trade partners and economic cooperation arrangements.”
Earlier, before Trump’s remarks targeting India, China’s Foreign Ministry stated on X that “China will always ensure its energy supply in ways that serve our national interests.” (Source: IANS)
