Trump doubles India's tariffs to 50% as penalty for importing Russian oil
U.S.-India ties are facing their most serious crisis in years after talks with India failed to produce a trade agreement.
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff on imports from India as a penalty for the country importing oil from Russia.
The additional levy would double India's U.S. tariff rate to 50% following a previously announced 25% tariff set to go into effect Aug. 7 under a separate order Trump issued last week.
Trump's Aug. 6 move marks the first time the president has deployed so-called "secondary tariffs" on Russian trading partners that he threatened if Russian President Vladimir Putin did not agree to a ceasefire to end his country's war in Ukraine. The additional 25% Indian tariff goes into effect in 21 days under the order.
The action, which could further complicate U.S.-Indian relations, comes shortly after Reuters reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit China for the first time in over seven years later this month.
U.S.-India ties are facing their most serious crisis in years after talks with India failed to produce a trade agreement.
Trump has turned increasingly critical of Putin for continuing his country’s military assault on Ukraine while expressing openness to a ceasefire to Trump in their private discussions.
Trump on July 29 announced a 10-day deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire by Aug. 8 or face tariffs and sanctions.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff met Aug. 6 with Putin in Moscow in a final effort by the Trump administration to convince the Russian leader to end fighting in Ukraine ahead of the deadline.
Trump afterward called the meeting "highly productive," adding in a social media post that, "Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come."
Still, it was not immediately clear whether Russia demonstrated enough progress toward peace for Trump to hold off on the penalties he's threatened.
Contributing: Reuters
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