Trump slaps 25% tariff on ‘friend’ India

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that ‘friend’ India will be paying a 25 per cent tariff from August 1. He also noted that New Delhi will have to pay additional penalty due to its oil and military purchase from Russia in the face of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump noted that despite being friends, India and US have done relatively little business. "Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country," he wrote.

The US President added, “Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! 

INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!”

In a separate post, Trump said that the US has a "massive trade deficit" with India.

Last week, US Senator Lindsey Graham had warned that Trump would impose stern tariffs on countries that continue to purchase oil from Russia, name-dropping India, China and Brazil.

He said that these countries purchase about 80 per cent of cheap Russian oil which keeps Vladimir "Putin's war machine going". "President Trump is going to put a 100 per cent tariff on all those countries, punishing them for helping Putin," he added.

NATO chief Mark Rutte had also warned countries engaging in trade and business with Russia, warning of 100 per cent tariffs and more sanctions, focusing on India, China and Brazil as he called on three countries to halt trade. The announcement comes after days of suspense over the tariff rate that the US President would impose on India. Earlier on Tuesday, Donald Trump had hinted that he may hit India with a 20-25 per cent tariff rate. However, he added that nothing had been finalised. He also called India a "good friend" while reiterating that New Delhi levies more tariff on the US than "almost any other country". “India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country…