Trump imposes 25% tariff on Indian imports over Russian oil
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The news: US President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods over the country’s purchasing of Russian energy, after talks between Washington and Moscow failed to achieve a breakthrough.
The numbers: The new tariff will take effect within 21 days, according to an executive order signed by Trump, and will be imposed on top of a 25% country-specific tariff which is set to be implemented overnight.
The context: In the executive order published by the White House on Wednesday, Trump said that having received additional information from various senior officials on, among other things, the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to the situation in Ukraine, “the actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
A factsheet released by the White House explains that India’s importation of Russian Federation oil undermines US efforts to counter Russia’s harmful activities and India’s profitable reselling of Russian oil further enables the Russian Federation’s economy to fund its aggression.
“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,” Trump said.
The factsheet says that Trump has been consistent that he will not tolerate Russian Federation aggression and that the Russian Federation would not be facing these actions if they were to “get a deal where people stop getting killed.”
President Trump has also been upfront that India would face tariffs for buying Russian Federation oil: “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 … Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.”
The news comes shortly after senior US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss Ukraine.
The sources: White House executive order, White House factsheet
