US President Donald Trump issued a fresh threat on Monday to "substantially" increase tariffs on India as a penalty, for what he alleged, for selling imported Russian oil
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NEW YORK — US President Donald Trump issued a fresh threat on Monday to "substantially" increase tariffs on India as a penalty, for what he alleged, for selling imported Russian oil on the open market for "big profits".
He did not say what the additional tariff on top of the 25 per cent he announced on Friday would be.
Trump has been frustrated by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to end the Ukraine War and is directing his ire against India to pressure Moscow.
He wrote on Truth Social: "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."
"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," he said.
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Trump had initially said the penalty, known as secondary tariffs, applying to all buyers of Russian apply would be 100 per cent.
He moved the deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine to late this week.
News reports over the weekend quoted unidentified Indian officials as saying in response to Trump’s earlier threats that New Delhi would continue to buy Russian oil, setting off the fresh outrage from Trump.
While he focused on India, he did not say if a China that also buys a substantial amount of Russian oil would face similar penalties – or other countries like Turkey would too.
The US and China are negotiating a trade deal, and if Trump were to impose tariff penalties, it would complicate the talks.
According to the International Energy Agency, India bought nearly 40 per cent of its imports from Russia, and 70 per cent of Moscow’s oil exports went to India.
Before the Ukraine War, India had bought only about 0.2 per cent of its needs from Russia, but it steeply increased after embargoes were placed on Russian oil, while keeping the price below the European Union-mandated price of $60 per barrel.
Some of the refined petrol and other oil products were reportedly exported by Indian refineries.
On Friday, when there were reports that India’s oil imports from Russia were coming down, Trump had called it a "good step", if true.
He told reporters: "I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia. That’s what I heard. I don’t know if that’s right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens."
Earlier, he wrote on Truth Social, "I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care."
That figured in a war of words with former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev playing on the word “dead”, leading ultimately to Trump moving two nuclear submarines to strategic locations.
Russia could also retaliate against the punitive tariffs by shutting off the Caspian Pipeline Consortium line that transports Kazakh oil through Russia to western Europe.
There is also the risk of the oil prices spiking if India, the world's third-largest importer of oil, is forced to buy from the general market, which would also affect the US.
Meanwhile, Indian government sources have clarified that there is no pause on the oil imports from Russia. According to sources, "India's energy purchases are driven by national interests and market forces. We do not have any reports of Indian oil firms halting Russian imports".
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said last week that "You are aware of our broad approach to energy sourcing requirements, that we look at what is available in the market and the prevailing global situation. We are not aware of any specifics".
India sources its oil purchases based on global market offerings to meet its energy needs.
"Our ties with any country stand on their merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country. As far as India-Russia relations are concerned, we have a steady and time-tested partnership,” said the MEA spokesperson.