Trump says he will ‘substantially' raise tariffs on India over Russian oil purchases
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said he would raise tariffs on Indian goods "over the next 24 hours' in response to New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil.
Trump announced a 25% duty on India's exports to the US and has threatened repeatedly to increase that rate to punish the country for buying Russian energy, an effort to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
"We settled on 25% but I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they're buying Russian oil,' Trump said Tuesday (Aug 5) in a CNBC interview.
"They're fueling the war machine. And if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy.'
Trump has escalated his fight with India over trade, unilaterally imposing a tariff rate after months of negotiations failed to secure a deal.
He accused New Delhi of refusing to ease access for American goods and criticizing its membership in the BRICS group of developing economies.
The US president has also set an Aug. 8 deadline for Russia to reach a truce with Ukraine, with the administration threatening so-called secondary sanctions on countries that purchase energy from Moscow.
Ukraine's allies say those purchases prop up Putin's war effort.
Trump in the interview said that if energy prices went down it would undercut Putin's ability to continue his invasion of Ukraine - now in its fourth year.
"If energy goes down low enough, Putin's going to stop killing people,' Trump said. "If you get energy down another US$10 a barrel, he's going to have no choice, because his economy stinks.'
The Indian government has indicated it intends to continue talks with the US in hopes of securing lower tariffs.
It has also called Trump's threat over energy purchases unjustified. India is considering ramping up natural gas purchases from the US and increasing imports of communication equipment and gold. - Bloomberg
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