Donald Trump now threatens to hit India with even higher tariffs than 25%
The development comes days after Trump imposed 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports plus an unspecified penalty on India for Russian oil imports.
- Aug 5, 2025,
- Updated Aug 5, 2025 9:10 PM IST
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he may 'substantially' hike tariffs on India in the next 24 hours. He accused India of 'fuelling' the Russia-Ukraine war by purchasing Russian oil.
The development comes days after Trump imposed 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports plus an unspecified penalty on India for Russian oil imports.
Trump told CNBC in an interview: "They have the highest tariff of anybody ... We settled on 25%, but I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours because they're buying Russian oil. They're fueling the war machine."
Earlier in the day, Moscow slammed Trump's ultimatum against India after he imposed higher tariffs on Indian imports over its purchase of Russian oil, calling the move 'illegal'.
Kremlin said that such statements against Russia's trading partners will be perceived as 'threats' against Moscow.
"We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia. We do not consider such statements to be legal," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"We believe that sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own trading partners, partners for trade and economic cooperation, and to choose for themselves the forms of trade and economic cooperation that are in the interests of a particular country," he added.
Before Kremlin, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded to the US and the EU over their criticism of New Delhi over its purchase of Russian crude oil.
Labelling the criticism 'unjustified and unreasonable,' the MEA pointed out the US and the EU's double standards. "Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," India said.
While India imported Russian oil due to diverted supplies after the Ukraine war, the US and the EU continued their own trade ties with Russia.
"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," the MEA said. "This is significantly more than India's total trade with Russia that year or subsequently."
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he may 'substantially' hike tariffs on India in the next 24 hours. He accused India of 'fuelling' the Russia-Ukraine war by purchasing Russian oil.
The development comes days after Trump imposed 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports plus an unspecified penalty on India for Russian oil imports.
Trump told CNBC in an interview: "They have the highest tariff of anybody ... We settled on 25%, but I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours because they're buying Russian oil. They're fueling the war machine."
Earlier in the day, Moscow slammed Trump's ultimatum against India after he imposed higher tariffs on Indian imports over its purchase of Russian oil, calling the move 'illegal'.
Kremlin said that such statements against Russia's trading partners will be perceived as 'threats' against Moscow.
"We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia. We do not consider such statements to be legal," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"We believe that sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own trading partners, partners for trade and economic cooperation, and to choose for themselves the forms of trade and economic cooperation that are in the interests of a particular country," he added.
Before Kremlin, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded to the US and the EU over their criticism of New Delhi over its purchase of Russian crude oil.
Labelling the criticism 'unjustified and unreasonable,' the MEA pointed out the US and the EU's double standards. "Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," India said.
While India imported Russian oil due to diverted supplies after the Ukraine war, the US and the EU continued their own trade ties with Russia.
"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," the MEA said. "This is significantly more than India's total trade with Russia that year or subsequently."