PTI New York/Moscow
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said India has not been a good trading partner and announced that he will raise the tariffs on New Delhi “very substantially” over the next 24 hours because it is buying Russian oil.
“With India, what people don’t like to say about India, they’re the highest tariff nation. They have the highest tariff of anybody. We do very, very little business with India because their tariffs are so high,” Trump said.
“India has not been a good trading partner, because they do a lot of business with us, but we don’t do business with them. So we settled on 25% (tariff), but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they’re buying Russian oil. They’re fuelling the war machine. And if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy,” he added.
When asked about the trade deal with India that seemed imminent, Trump said the “sticking point” with India is that its tariffs are too high. “Now I will say this, India went from the highest tariffs ever, they will give us zero tariffs….But that’s not good enough, because of what they’re doing with oil.”
A day earlier, Trump said he will “substantially” raise US tariffs on India, accusing the country of buying massive amounts of Russian oil and selling it for big profits.
Hours later, India mounted an unusually sharp counterattack on the US and the European Union for their “unjustified and unreasonable” targeting of New Delhi for its procurement of Russian crude oil.
Firmly rejecting the criticism, India pointed out the double standards in targeting it on the issue and said both the US and the EU are continuing their trade relations with Russia.
“Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. The Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy, but also fertilisers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel, and machinery and transport equipment, the MEA said. “Where the US is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals,” it added.
“In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” the MEA said.
On Tuesday, Russia defended India’s right to select trade partners, saying sovereign countries have the right to select their partners in trade and economic cooperation based on their interests.
“We believe that sovereign countries must have and do have the right to choose their trade partners, the partners in trade and economic cooperation, on their own and independently determine those modes of trade and economic cooperation that suit the interests of a country in question,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, commenting on the US’ threats regarding India.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakahrova accused the US administration of continuing a neocolonial policy against the nations of the Global South to maintain American hegemony.
“Sanctions and restrictions are a regrettable reality of today’s historical stage, which affects the entire world,” Zakaharova said in a statement.
“Washington cannot come to terms with the loss of hegemony in the emerging multipolar world order and continues to pursue a neocolonial policy in an attempt to maintain its position, using politicised levers of economic pressure against those who refuse to follow in its wake in the international arena,” she added.
Trump says pharma tariffs could eventually reach up to 250%
President Donald Trump told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the US could eventually reach up to 250%, the highest rate he has threatened so far.
He said he will initially impose a “small tariff” on pharmaceuticals, but then in one year to a year and a half “maximum” he will raise that rate to 150% and then 250%.
