Trump vows steep tariffs on India in 24 hrs

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that he would raise the tariffs on Indian imports “very substantially” over the next 24 hours, while accusing New Delhi of helping Moscow financially by buying its crude amid the ongoing Ukraine war.

“India has not been a good trading partner because they do a lot of business with us, but we don’t do business with them. So, we settled on 25 per cent (tariff), but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours because they’re buying Russian oil,” Trump said in an interview with to a news channel.

“They’re fuelling the war machine. And if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy,” he said. Trump called India “highest tariff nation” and stated that the US did “very little business with India because the tariffs were so high”.

On Monday, Trump had warned that he would increase the tariffs on Indian imports over New Delhi’s oil purchases from Russia. This came less than a week after the US President signed an executive order slapping 25 per cent tariffs (effective August 7) on the goods imported from India. Trump had also warned New Delhi of unspecified penalty for purchasing oil and defence equipment from Russia.

Trump’s remark drew a strong-worded response from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which termed targeting of India as “unjustified and unreasonable”. It reiterated that New Delhi would take all necessary measures to “safeguard its national interests and economic security like any major economy”.

The MEA underlined that India began importing oil from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict. It also said the US had then actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability.

“India has been targeted by the US and the European Union for importing oil from Russia after the commencement of the Ukraine conflict.… They are a necessity compelled by global market situation. However, it is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion,” the MEA said.

The ministry said the European Union in 2024 had a bilateral trade of Euro 67.5 billion in goods with Russia. In addition, it had trade in services estimated at Euro 17.2 billion in 2023, the ministry said, adding this was significantly more than India’s total trade with Russia that year or subsequently. It also said the US continued to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilizers as well as chemicals.

The US President had announced reciprocal tariffs on April 2 to address deficit with various countries. He, though, paused the implementation of tariffs till August 1 to negotiate trade deals.

India’s exports to the US in 2024-25 were close to $87 billion. Trade experts projected that the exports would decline by nearly 30 per cent in 2025-26 to about $60.6 billion due to the 25 per cent tariffs. The Global Trade Research Initiative noted that the tariffs put India at a serious disadvantage compared to regional rivals like Vietnam (20 per cent), Bangladesh (20 per cent) and Mexico, which faced lower or zero duties.