Washington has halted negotiations over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil
President Donald Trump has said the US has halted trade negotiations with India until the two countries resolve their ongoing dispute over tariffs.
On Wednesday, the White House announced an additional 25% tariff on Indian imports, doubling those it recently imposed on the South Asian nation to 50%. The US president said the latest tariffs were imposed due to India’s continued purchases of Russian oil.
The new tariffs are set to take effect August 27, as per Trump’s executive order.
Asked if he expects “increased trade negotiations” with India after announcing the latest tariffs, Trump said, “No, not until we get it resolved.”
Washington and New Delhi held talks for several months over a trade deal, but differences arose when the US reportedly asked for agricultural and dairy products to be exempted from tariffs.
”For us, the interest of farmers is our top priority,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in response to the latest tariffs on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Trump claimed in a CNBC ‘Squawk Box’ interview that India had offered to completely waive tariffs for US imports. “But that’s not good enough, because of what they’re doing with oil,” he said.
A day earlier, the US president stated that India is making “big profits” by selling Russian oil in the open market. “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian war machine,” he said in a Truth Social post.
An Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman said this week that “imports from Russia are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India.”
In the 2024-25 fiscal year, bilateral trade between India and the US stood at $131.8 billion, with a trade surplus of $41.18 billion for New Delhi, according to the Indian government.
