US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced an extra 25 per cent trade tariff on India after it warned the country of action over its oil purchases from Russia, taking the total levy to 50 per cent. The additional tariffs will be applicable after 21 days from today, which will be August 27, the order said.
The original 25 per cent levy on Indian imports into the US in retaliation to India’s tariffs on US goods came into effect on August 1.
Signing an Executive Order in this direction on Wednesday, Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on its South Asian trade partner in response to its continued purchase of Russian oil.
Trump signed a nine-section order on Wednesday, outlining the details of various aspects, like the background, the tariffs, the scope of duties and stacking, among others.
Expanding further on the background, Trump spoke about various legislation in effect in the US restricting the import of Russian goods, including energy and oil, for waging a war against Ukraine, and “adversely affecting” America’s foreign policy.
“To deal with the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066, I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to impose an additional ad valorem duty on imports of articles of India, which is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,” the order further said.
Reacting to the extra 25 per cent tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on Indian imports to the US over buying Russian oil, India has lambasted the move, terming it “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”. India reiterated that it will do whatever it can to safeguard its national interest and dubbed the US move to hike the overall tariffs to 50 per cent “extremely unfortunate”.
“The United States has in recent days targeted India’s oil imports from Russia. We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement.
“It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest,” the statement said, reiterating its stance on several other countries, including the US and European Union, importing Russian oil.
“We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests,” the statement added.
