Trump Says US to Hike India’s Tariffs Over Russian Oil Buys
President Donald Trump said he would be “substantially raising” the tariff on Indian exports to the US over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, ramping up his threat to target a major trading partner.
“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 on his Truth Social platform Monday. “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.”
Trump’s post did not specify how much he would raise the levy by. Trump last week announced a 25% rate on Indian exports, shocking New Delhi after months of negotiations failed to secure a breakthrough. He also threatened more action if India continued to buy oil from Russia.
The US president’s new threat comes ahead of an Aug. 8 deadline for Russia to reach a truce with Ukraine, with the administration threatening so-called secondary sanctions on countries that purchase Russian energy. The US and other allies of Ukraine view those purchases as helping to prop up Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s economy and undercutting pressure on Moscow to end a war that is now in its fourth year.
India has been a top Trump target in the campaign to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. New Delhi has been defiant, however, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who has had warm relations with Trump in the past — responding to the US president’s threat by urging Indians to buy local goods and signaling that his administration will continue to buy Russian oil.
Modi’s government hasn’t given Indian oil refiners instructions to stop buying Russian oil, and no decision has been taken on whether to halt the purchases, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Source : Bloomberg
