India has called Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs “unfair” after the US president slapped an additional 25 per cent duty on New Delhi as punishment for importing Russian oil.
The new import tax, effective 21 days after 7 August, will raise duties on some Indian exports to as high as 50 per cent. However, three weeks would allow India and Russia the opportunity to negotiate with the US administration on the import taxes.
Experts say this marks a low point in US-India relations, which could harm the gains the two sides have worked hard to build over the past few years. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has been urged by opposition parties and the general public to stand up to Mr Trump.
India’s foreign ministry in a statement late on Wednesday said: “We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.
The foreign ministry added: “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.
“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.”
New Delhi warned that India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.
While India has emerged in recent years as a key partner for Washington in its strategic rivalry with China, its large US trade surplus and close relations with Russia have made it a prime target in the Republican president’s global tariff offensive.
The tariffs threaten to disrupt India’s access to its largest export market, where shipments totalled nearly $87bn (£65bn) in 2024, hitting sectors like textiles, footwear, gems and jewellery. The increased duties place Indian exporters at a 30 to 35 per cent disadvantage versus trade rivals in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Japan, according to Reuters.
In 2024, the US ran a $45.8bn (£34.2bn) trade deficit in goods with India, meaning America imported more from India than it exported, according to the US Census Bureau.
The planned tariffs on India contradict past efforts by the Joe Biden administration and other nations in the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations that encouraged India to buy cheap Russian oil through a price cap imposed in 2022. The nations collectively capped Russian oil a $60 (£44.9)per barrel at a time when prices in the market were meaningfully higher.
Mr Trump on Tuesday rued that 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”.
He told CNBC: “We settled on 25 per cent, but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they’re buying Russian oil. They’re fuelling the war machine.”
In his latest post on Truth Social, Mr Trump claimed: “BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, LARGELY FROM COUNTRIES THAT HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE UNITED STATES FOR MANY YEARS, LAUGHING ALL THE WAY, WILL START FLOWING INTO THE USA.”
