India hit with new tariffs as Trump cracks down on Russian oil trade

US President Donald Trump has formally announced a new 25% tariff on Indian imports in response to the country’s continued purchase of Russian oil, marking a significant escalation in his trade tensions with New Delhi.

 According to a document published on the White House website, India is “currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil”, as Caliber.Az reports.

The move represents the first use of secondary sanctions in Trump's wide-ranging tariff reshuffle which is aimed at nations the US accuses of supporting Russia’s war efforts.

The Russia-related tariffs will go into effect in 21 days, while a previously threatened 25% tariff is set to be enforced starting August 7.

The announcement came shortly after Trump’s foreign envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

This action makes good on Trump’s earlier warnings to penalize countries he claims are enabling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “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,” Trump wrote on social media. “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine.”

By Nazrin Sadigova