U.S. to impose higher tariffs on India over support for Russia, Trump says

President Trump announced that the United States will impose higher tariffs on India, accusing the country of buying large volumes of Russian oil and reselling it for profit on the global market while ignoring the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Monday. “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine.”

“Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA,” Trump added.

The post marks the first time Trump has publicly singled out India since announcing his plan last month to impose “secondary tariffs” on countries that support the Russian economy.

India, which has maintained strong trade ties with Russia throughout the war, has significantly increased its imports of Russian crude oil since the 2022 invasion.

At a joint press briefing with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on July 14, Trump threatened sweeping tariffs if Moscow failed to reach a peace deal in Ukraine within 50 days, a timeline he later reduced to 10 days.

“If no deal is made, it’s going to be 100%,” Trump said at the time, referring to the pending secondary tariffs. He also announced a weapons arrangement under which the U.S. would supply NATO allies at their expense with advanced missile and air defense systems to be transferred to Ukraine.