Trump threatens India to buy 50% tariffs on Russian oil

U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order to buy Russian oil at an additional 25% tariff.

This will bring the total tariffs on Indian imports to the United States to 50% – of the highest interest rates imposed by the United States.

Under the executive order, the new tax rate will take effect within 21 days and therefore will take effect on August 27.

The Indian Foreign Ministry responded on Wednesday that Delhi had clarified its position on Russian imports and reiterated that the tariffs were “unfair, unreasonable and unreasonable”.

“So, very unfortunately, the United States should choose to impose other additional tariffs on India to take actions that several other countries also assume their own national interests,” the brief statement said.

It added: “India will take all necessary actions to protect its national interests.”

The U.S. president earlier warned that he would propose taxes and said India doesn’t care how many people in Ukraine were killed by the Russian war machine.”

“The Russian Federation’s actions in Ukraine pose an ongoing threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, and stronger measures are necessary to address national emergencies,” the White House said in a statement Wednesday.

It said that Indian oil imports in Russia undermined U.S. efforts to oppose Russia’s activities in Ukraine.

It added that the U.S. will determine which countries import oil from Russia and will “recommend further action to the president as needed.”

Oil and gas are Russia’s largest exports, with Moscow’s largest customers including China, India and Türkiye.

Trump’s threatened tariff hikes aimed at ensuring peace between Russia and Ukraine after a meeting on Wednesday by Trump’s top envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow.

Delhi had previously called Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on buying oil from Russia “unreasonable and unreasonable”.

In an earlier statement, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said the United States had encouraged India to import Russian gas at the beginning of the conflict to “strengthen the stability of the global energy market.”

He said India “started imports from Russia because traditional materials were transferred to Europe after the conflict broke out.”

The latest threatening tariffs show that Trump is willing to impose sanctions on Ukraine’s war even against countries that the United States considers to be important ally or trading partners.

This could warn that if Trump passes on Friday’s deadline, other countries may feel real biting when the U.S. president threatens new sanctions on Russia and imposes 100% tariffs on countries that buy oil.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has imposed secondary tariffs, and it is also the secondary tariffs that punish Venezuelan oil buyers.

India has previously criticized the United States – its largest trading partner – for introducing taxes when the United States itself is still trading with Russia.

Last year, despite the tough sanctions and tariffs, the U.S. traded goods with Russia were estimated at $3.5 billion (£2.6 billion).

Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to call each other friends, and during Trump’s first term, attended political rallies in each other’s countries.

But that didn’t stop Trump from collecting taxes, suggesting that interests differ between New Delhi and Washington.

The Global Trade Research Project (GTRI), a Delhi-based think tank, said tariffs are expected to make Indian goods more expensive in the United States and could reduce U.S. exports by 40-50%.

“India should remain calm, avoid at least six months of retaliation and recognize that meaningful trade negotiations with the United States cannot be carried out under threat or distrust,” said Ajay Srivastava, former Indian trade official and head of GTRI.

With other analysis by BBC North American correspondent Anthony Zurcher and BBC Indian journalist Soutik Biswas.