US President Donald Trump indicated a possible escalation in trade tensions with India on Tuesday, stating that he would increase the tariffs charged on Indian imports “very substantially” over the next 24 hours because of New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil.
“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 percent, but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they’re buying Russian oil. They’re fueling the war machine,” Trump said in conversation with CNBC on Tuesday.
Trump also stated that he had no knowledge that the United States imports Russian Chemicals and fertilisers.
Reacting to the US Imports of Russian chemicals and fertilisers during a press conference at the White House, Trump told ANI, “I don’t know anything about it. We will have to check.”
The US President’s reaction comes a day after he announced that the United States would “substantially raise” tariffs on India over its purchase of Russian oil.
“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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!” Trump said it on Truth Social on Monday.
Therefore, India strongly opposed the US President’s statement, with the Ministry of External Affairs describing the targeting of the country as “unjustified and unreasonable.”
“In fact, India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability. India’s imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer. They are a necessity compelled by global market situation. However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion,” MEA said in a statement.
In a released statement, MEA also highlighted that trade between Russia and both the United States and the European Union has continued.