Trump says will raise tariff on India over Russia oil purchases

• India ignores Ukraine deaths caused by Russian aggression: Trump.
• Trump slams India’s oil trade as fuelling Russian war machine.
• I’ll be substantially raising tariff paid by India to US, says Trump.

President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to "substantially" hike US tariffs on goods from India over its purchases of Russian oil, a key source of revenue for Moscow's war on Ukraine.

Moscow is anticipating talks with the US leader's special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin this week.

On Monday, Trump said in a post to his Truth Social platform that India was "buying massive amounts of Russian Oil" and selling it for "big profits."

"They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine," Trump added.

"Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA."

But he did not provide details on what tariff level he had in mind.

A day earlier, a top aide to President Trump accused India of effectively financing Russia's war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow.

"What he (Trump) said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia," said Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House and one of Trump's most influential aides.

"People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That's an astonishing fact," Miller said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."

India slams 'unjustified' criticism

Meanwhile, India has rejected the "unjustified and unreasonable targeting" of the nation for importing oil from Russia after the commencement of the Ukraine conflict.

"Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

In the statement, the spokesperson noted that 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," he said.

Furthermore, Jaiswal said, India's imports are meant to ensure "predictable and affordable energy costs" to the Indian consumer.

"However, it is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," he claimed.

Pointing out the EU and US trade with Russia, he said Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy, but also fertilizers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel and machinery and transport equipment.

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

'Dead economies'

Earlier on July 31, President Trump assailed India and Russia over trade, saying that he didn't care what either of them did.

"I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care," President Trump said in a post on X.

"We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World," the president added.

The scathing remarks follow Trump's earlier statement, where he said that Washington and New Delhi were in the process of negotiating a trade deal.

The 25% tariff, as well as an unspecified penalty, would strain relations with the world's most populous democracy.

The 25% figure would single out India more severely than other major trading partners, and threaten to unravel months of talks between the two countries, undermining a strategic partner of Washington’s and a counterbalance to China.

Responding to the 25% tariff post by Trump, the Indian government said it was studying the implications of Trump's announcements and remained dedicated to securing a fair trade deal.

Regarding Trump's threat, what the penalty would be is not yet clear. The US president had initially indicated it was for India buying Russian arms and oil, and its non-monetary trade barriers.

When asked about the penalty at the White House, he said it was partly due to trade issues and partly because of India's involvement in the BRICS group of developing nations, which he described as hostile to the US Trump in July said the US will impose an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of the BRICS.

— With additional input from Reuters