Washington, Aug 8: US President Donald Trump has said India is “very close” to China in terms of its purchases of Russian oil and will pay tariffs of 50 per cent as he indicated that “you are going to see so much secondary sanctions”.“…. As you know, we put a 50-per cent tariff on India on oil. They are the second largest, they are very close to China in terms of the purchase of oil from Russia,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Trump signed an executive order “Addressing Threats to the US by the Government of the Russian Federation” early on Wednesday, slapping an additional 25-per cent tariff on India for New Delhi’s purchases of oil from Russia. This took the total levies imposed on India to 50 per cent, among the highest that Washington has imposed on any country, after the Trump administration had announced 25-per cent tariffs on India last week that come into effect from August 7. The additional 25-per cent duty will come into effect after 21 days or August 27.
At the White House event, Trump was flanked by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Vice President J D Vance, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Besant and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick as the technology giant announced that it will invest USD 600 billion in the United States over the next four years. Trump was asked several questions about his decision to impose an additional tariff on India.
To a question that if he reaches a deal with Ukraine and Russia, would he drop the additional tariffs on India, Trump said, “We will determine that later but right now, they are paying a 50-per cent tariff.”
Trump was then told that Indian officials have said there are other countries like China that are buying Russian oil, to which he said, “It is okay.” On why was he singling India out for these additional tariffs, the US president said “it has only been eight hours, so let us see what happens over the next…. You are going to see a lot more. You are going to see so much secondary sanctions.”
The United States has imposed this additional tariff or penalty for Russian imports only on India, while other buyers, such as China and Turkiye, have so far escaped such measures. The 30-per cent tariff on China and 15 per cent on Turkiye is lower than India’s 50 per cent.
Asked about the additional penalties on India and whether he has any similar plans to enact more tariffs on China for its purchases, Trump said, “Could happen, could happen. Depends on how we do. Could happen.”
On another question on possible tariffs on China for its purchases of Russian oil, he said, “It may happen, I do not know, I cannot tell you yet. We did it with India. We are doing it probably with a couple of others. One of them could be China.”
Reacting to Trump’s additional tariffs, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement that it is “extremely unfortunate” that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest.
“We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India,” the MEA statement said, adding that the US has in recent days targeted India’s oil imports from Russia.
“We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests,” it said.