Will there be secondary tariffs on India over Russian oil? Trump makes huge announcement before meeting Putin

Trump imposed tariffs totaling 50 per cent on India over purchases of Russian oil that will come into effect from August 27. He had also called India a dead economy.

Amid tensions with India over imposing tariff, US President Donald Trump said that he may not put secondary penalty on New Delhi over the Russian oil purchases. The US president made the remarks before meeting Vladimir Putin in ALaska which ultimately concluded without any agreement on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Well, he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40 per cent of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot…And if I did what’s called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I’ll do it. Maybe I won’t have to do it,” Trump said.

Trump imposed tariffs totalling 50 per cent on India, including 25 per cent for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil that will come into effect from August 27. Responding to the tariffs, the Ministry of External Affairs has said that 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,” it said.

Following the tariff war, India will attract the highest US tariff of 50 per cent along with Brazil, if no agreement is reached upon.

India became the largest customer of Russian oil in 2022, after western countries shunned Russian oil and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

Has it impacted India? 

However, Washington’s threats have had no effect on New Delhi. Even after US President Donald Trump warned of heavy tariffs on India for buying Russian oil and doing business with Moscow India’s imports of Russian crude have actually gone up this month.