The United States has announced an additional 25% tariff increase on India as punishment for its direct or indirect purchase of Russian oil. The measure, which raises the tariffs on Indian products to 50%, will take effect within three weeks, according to the executive order signed Wednesday by President Donald Trump.
The announcement of the new tariffs comes as Trump's envoy for Russia and the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is in Moscow to try to convince the Kremlin to accept a ceasefire in Ukraine. The visit came two days before the deadline the US president gave his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to implement a truce. Failure to do so has threatened Moscow with a new round of economic sanctions and tariffs.
The measure announced Wednesday marks a profound deterioration in bilateral relations between Washington and New Delhi since Trump's return to the White House, despite the fact that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the White House in February and both he and the US president sought to show their understanding.
For years, Washington has sought to cultivate ties with India to counter China's growing ascendancy in the Asia-Pacific region, in a relationship complicated by New Delhi's reluctance to reduce its ties with Russia.
The drastic tariffs Washington is planning to impose could deal a severe blow to the economy of the South Asian giant, which sells pharmaceuticals, jewelry, and textiles to the United States. Now Modi is preparing a visit to Beijing, his first in seven years, in an indication of a possible rapprochement between the two Asian giants, parallel to the distancing between New Delhi and Washington.
Trump had already announced on Monday that he would raise tariffs on India in retaliation for its purchase of Russian oil and gas and its resale on global markets. India is one of the largest buyers of Russian energy, behind only China."You're fueling the Russian war machine, and if you do that, I'm not going to be happy," the Republican had asserted in a warning to the government in New Delhi on his social media platform, Truth.
The executive order published this Wednesday makes no mention of China, which is negotiating its own tariff regime with the United States and on which Washington currently imposes 30% tariffs. Talks between the two global economic giants have been set for August 12 to reach an agreement, although both parties have indicated that the deadline could be extended.
Last week, Washington announced the imposition of 25% tariffs on India as part of widespread tariffs on the vast majority of countries around the world, which include a 15% tariff on products from the European Union. These rates will take effect this Thursday, August 7.
The Indian government has strongly condemned the US move. “India will take all necessary measures to protect its national interests,” its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “It is extremely unfortunate that the United States has decided to impose additional tariffs against India for actions that other countries also take because it is in their national interests.”
