Trump warns India of secondary sanctions

Hours after doubling tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent, US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned of “lot more secondary sanctions” in the coming days over the purchase of Russian oil.

Trump’s additional 25 per cent tariffs will come into effect from August 27 while the previous 25 per cent (announced on July 31) were implemented from August 7.

To cushion off the impact of the tariffs, the Ministry of Commerce held consultations with exporters from the textile and chemical sectors. Sources said the government was considering the options of market diversification and bringing schemes under the Export Promotion Mission to help exporters, particularly the textile industry, which was expected to be hit the most.

Trump threatened secondary sanctions when asked why he singled out India over its trade relations with Moscow when China too had been buying Russian oil. Interestingly, China is the largest buyer of oil from Russia, with nearly two million barrels per day, followed by India and Turkey. India imported about 1.75 million barrels of Russian oil daily from January to June.

“It’s only been eight hours. So, let’s see what happens. You are going to see a lot more.... You’re going to see so much secondary sanctions,” Trump said.

The tariffs on India are the highest and way more than other Asian countries such as China (30 per cent), Pakistan (19 per cent), Vietnam (20 per cent), Indonesia (19 per cent) and Bangladesh (20 per cent). The US, in fact, lowered the tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 per cent from 145 per cent in May due to Beijing’s leverage over critical minerals, which are vital for defence and technology.

Meanwhile, 11 export promotion councils from the textiles sector participated in the Commerce Ministry’s meeting. The Export Promotion Mission was announced in the 2025-26 Budget with an allocation of Rs 2,250 crore.

India exports textile goods worth $11 billion to the US, accounting for 9 per cent of the import basket. In the chemical sector, it exports 20 products worth $6 billion.