US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order
striking
India with an extra 25% tariff on its imports of Russian oil.
India's total tariff on imports to the United States will increase to 50% - one of the highest rates charged by the US.
The new tariff will be effective after 21 days, therefore on 27 August, as per the executive order.
An Indian foreign ministry response on Wednesday indicated Delhi had already indicated its position regarding imports from Russia, and reiterated that the tariff is "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable"."It is therefore 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," the concise statement stated.
"India will do everything to defend its national interests," it stated.
The president of the US previously threatened to hike levies, stating India doesn't "care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine"On Wednesday, the White House stated in a statement that the "Russian Federation's actions in Ukraine pose an ongoing threat to US national security and foreign policy, necessitating stronger measures to address the national emergency".
It stated that India's imports of Russian oil are an obstacle to US attempts to push back against Russia's actions in Ukraine.
It further stated that the US will decide which other nations import Russian oil, and will "recommend further actions to the President as needed".
Petroleum products and natural gas are Russia's largest exports, and Moscow's largest buyers are China, India and Turkey.
Russia is currently India's largest supplier of oil, supplying over 35% of India's total supplies, as per global commodities data platform Kpler.
Trade data provided to the Reuters news agency indicated that India imported around 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil in the first half of this year.
Addressing later at a ceremony in the White House, Trump accepted a question from the BBC on the topic and stated that the tariff against India was only a beginning - "You're going to see a lot more, so much secondary sanctions," he declared.
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The threatened tariff increase comes as Trump's chief diplomat Steve Witkoff met in Moscow on Wednesday in a bid to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine.
The higher tariff would imply a sharp 50% duty on priority Indian exports such as textiles, gems and jewellery, automobile components, and seafood, impacting major job-creating industries.
Electronics, including iPhones, and pharma continue to be exempt for the moment.
Delhi has in the past referred to Trump's threat to impose tariffs for its import of oil from Russia as "unjustified and unreasonable".
In a previous statement, an official from India's foreign ministry told the US had urged India to import
Russian gas early in the war, "for strengthening global energy markets stability".
He added that India "started importing from Russia because traditional supplies were rerouted to Europe following the conflict's break-out".
The most recent threatened tariff reveals that Trump is not afraid to apply sanctions on the Ukraine war even on countries that the US deems to be valuable allies or trading partners.
This may be a threat that other nations would get a sharp bite if Trump increases such sanctions after Friday's deadline, when the US president threatened new sanctions against Russia and to put 100% tariffs on nations that buy its oil.
This would not be the first time that tariffs secondary have been imposed by the Trump administration, which are also designed to punish the purchasers of Venezuelan oil.
India has already condemned the US - its biggest trading partner - for imposing the levies, when the US itself continues to trade with Russia.
Last year, the US traded goods valued at an estimated $3.5bn (£2.6bn) with Russia despite stringent sanctions and tariffs.
Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi previously called one another friends and, during Trump's first term, spoke at political rallies in each other's nations.
But that hasn't prevented Trump from imposing the levies on India, implying divergent interests between New Delhi and Washington.
The India Exports Organisations Federation described the move to additional tariffs as "extremely shocking", stating it will affect 55% of India's exports to America.
Tariffs will make Indian products much more expensive in the US, and would reduce US-bound exports by 40–50%, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said, a Delhi-based think tank.
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