Donald Trump has announced the US will impose a 25% tariff on goods from India plus an extra “penalty” for the country buying arms and energy from Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
Washington has set a 1 August deadline for countries around the world to reach agreements on trade, including India, amid the US president’s sweeping global tariff war.
While saying that Delhi was a “friend,” Trump used his Truth Social platform to criticise India’s trade policies and said the White House would impose a 25% tariff “plus a penalty” of an unspecified amount.
He said the US had a “massive” trade deficit with India – when imported goods outstrip exports – and linked its “vast” purchases of military equipment and energy from Russia to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Criticising Indian tariffs applied to US imports as “far too high”, he also accused Narendra Modi’s government of applying non-monetary barriers to trade that were among the most “strenuous and obnoxious” in the world.
Trump wrote: “They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!
“INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!”
Trump doubled down in a subsequent post, saying: “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.
“We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way,” he wrote.
Figures compiled by Washington show the US trade in goods with India were an estimated $129.2bn (£97bn) in 2024, making it the US’s 10th largest trading partner. The US goods trade deficit was worth $45.7bn.
Shortly after announcing the tariffs on New Delhi, Trump said he had struck a deal with India’s neighbour and rival Pakistan to jointly develop its oil reserves.
“Who knows, maybe they’ll be selling oil to India some day!” he posted on Truth Social.
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Trump’s criticism of India comes as he ramps up pressure on Moscow amid growing frustration with Putin’s war in Ukraine. Trump had claimed before his inauguration in January that he would be able to end the conflict within 24 hours of taking office.
Dozens of large countries around the world remain locked in negotiations with Washington with only days to go before Trump’s deadline of 1 August to reach agreements on trade. The White House has threatened to unilaterally apply higher tariffs if deals cannot be reached.
Washington and Brussels reached a deal on Sunday to limit an increase in US tariffs on most EU goods to 15%, after Trump had threatened to apply a border charge of 30%. Deals have also been reached with Japan, Vietnam and the UK, while an agreement in principle has been reached to extend talks with China.
Global investors have been monitoring closely amid hopes that damage to the world economy can be avoided after Trump’s 2 April “liberation day” plan sent shock waves through international markets.
