Trump now threatens to raise tariffs over next 24 hours as India is buying Russian Oil

The US President Donald Trump is relentless on its tirade against India as he said today that he is going to raise the tariffs over the next 24 hours as India is buying Russian Oil, even as India made it clear that it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.

“They (India) have the highest tariff of anybody… we settled on 25%, but I think I am going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours because they are buying Russian oil,” Trump said in a post on social media platform Truth Social.

“We do very very little business with India because their tariffs are so high so India is not a very good trading partner. They do a lot of business with us but we don’t do business with them…,” he said in an audio message on the platform.

India is buying Russian oil. They are fueling the war machine, Trump said adding “If they are going to do that then I am not going to be happy.”

This comes a day after New Delhi expressed disappointment over recent announcements by President Trump and termed them as “unjustified and unreasonable”.

India has been targeted by the United States and the European Union for importing oil from Russia after the commencement of the Ukraine conflict. In fact, 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.

India’s imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer. They are a necessity compelled by the global market situation. However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion, India said yesterday in a statement in response to Trump’s allegation that India was helping Russia by purchasing crude from them.

The European Union in 2024 had a bilateral trade of Euro 67.5 billion in goods with Russia. In addition, it had trade in services estimated at Euro 17.2 billion in 2023. This is significantly more than India’s total trade with Russia that year or subsequently. European imports of LNG in 2024, in fact, reached a record 16.5mn tonnes, surpassing the last record of 15.21mn tonnes in 2022, India’s External Affairs Ministry had 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.

In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.