American President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian imports, citing India’s continued purchase and resale of oil from Russia, despite the continued aggression against Ukraine being a national security threat to the US.
The tariff has been imposed as a word of caution to any other country that may be engaged in similar oil purchases from Russia.
An exemption has been granted to goods mentioned in annex II to executive order 14257 of the US. It includes several mineral and energy resources that go into pharmaceutical and electronic goods.
The US has justified the additional tariff saying continued purchase of Russian oil by India and then reselling it at a significant profit in the open market, enables funding of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, undermining US efforts to counter these harmful activities. The latest move now means India has the highest tariffs, at 50% in total, imposed by the US on any country.
The new tariff will apply from 27 August 2025.
According to data from the Office of the US Trade Representative, US-India trade in 2024 was USD212.3 billion, of which US imports from India stood at USD87.3 billion.
