Trump doubles tariff on India to 50% for buying Russian oil; India's response awaited

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday slapped an additional 25 per cent tariff on goods coming from India as a penalty for New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil.

Trump signed an executive order imposing the additional tariff less than 14 hours before his initial tariffs were set to come into effect.

Also read: Trump’s tariff bully: Why India must make the US rethink its big mistake

Following the order, the total tariff on Indian goods, barring a small exemption list, will be 50 per cent.

While the initial duty becomes effective on August 7, the additional levy will come into effect after 21 days.

All eyes are now on India's response to this new threat.

On Monday, India mounted an unusually sharp counterattack on the US and the European Union for their “unjustified and unreasonable” targeting of New Delhi for its procurement of Russian crude oil.

Firmly rejecting the criticism, India pointed out the double standards in targeting it on the issue and said both the US and the EU continue to maintain their trade relations with Russia.

“Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Monday night.

Responding to this, Trump said he doesn’t know anything about the US imports of Russian uranium, fertilisers, and chemicals.

Trump made the comments on Tuesday while responding to a question regarding India’s statement on American imports of these commodities.

“I don't know anything about it. I'd have to check, but we'll get back to you on that,” Trump said, adding that he will soon decide on tariffs to be imposed on nations buying Russian energy.

According to the MEA, Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy, but also fertilisers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel, and machinery and transport equipment.

"Where the US is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals," it added.

"In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable," the MEA said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to China later this month to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Modi's visit to China is being seen as a strong message to Trump against his bully.