Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra posts higher quarterly profit on strong SUV sales
The Scorpio SUV maker's profit rose to 34.50 billion Indian rupees ($394.58 million) in the April-June quarter from 26.13 billion rupees a year ago.
($1 = 87.4350 Indian rupees)
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Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump drops the hammer on India with crushing 50% tariffs in massive trade war punishment
President Donald Trump punished India by signing an executive order doubling tariffs on the South Asian democracy for continuing to purchase Russian oil amid the deadly war in Ukraine. Starting August 27th, India will face an additional 25 percent tariff if it continues to buy oil from Russia, making the total tariff rate a crushing 50 percent. Trump coupled his new order with a threat to impose additional tariffs on other countries that purchase Russian fossil fuels. The executive order is a key part of the administration's increasingly muscular strategy to pressure the Kremlin to resolve the three-year war in Ukraine. After years of cozying up to Vladimir Putin, Trump is now calling Russia an ' extraordinary threat ' to the US as the country repeatedly ignores his deadline to end the Ukrainian invasion. Previously, Trump gave the Kremlin until this Friday to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, or the US would begin implementing massive tariffs on Russia's main trading partners. Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday for three hours. The Kremlin described the meeting as 'a very useful and constructive conversation.' The pair reportedly discussed ending the Ukrainian war as well as developing strategic cooperation between the United States and Russia. But while Trump touted 'great progress,' there was no indication Putin was willing to end his furious campaign to take Ukraine. Trump previously imposed a 25 percent tariff last week on India citing unfair trade barriers. After Wednesday's executive order, the total tariffs on goods coming from India will rise to 50 percent – the highest levies on any US trading partner. A statement from India's Ministry of External Affairs said that its energy imports help ensure the 'security of 1.4 billion people,' while indicating it did not intend to stop purchasing Russian oil. 'These actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,' the statement says. China is the largest buyer of Russian oil and energy products in the world. Turkey is also a significant buyer, but the two countries have not faced additional tariffs so far. When asked why the president did not place an additional tariff on China for their purchase of Russian oil, the White House did not respond at the time of publishing. Over the last eight months, India imported approximately 1.75 million barrels daily from Russia, which is up one percent from the same period last year. However, Trump did tease a threat to impose similar 25 percent tariffs on other large importers of Russian energy. In his Wednesday executive order, the president directed administration officials to 'determine whether any other country is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,' and then decide if they should face economic punishments. Trump's congressional allies praised the president's drastic moves. Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on X, 'I completely understand and applaud President @realDonaldTrump's decision to hit India with an additional 25 percent tariff ... because India insists on purchasing Putin's oil to prop up his war machine, allowing the bloodbath in Ukraine to continue.' 'President Trump has put the world on notice that if you continue to buy Putin's oil, you are no longer going to be allowed to have access to the American economy without substantial tariffs,' Graham added. Nikki Haley, Trump's former United Nations ambassador and rival for the 2024 Republican nomination, agreed that India shouldn't be buying oil from Russia but warned Trump against burning a relationship with a strong ally. Trump's tariff bombshell lands just 48 hours before Trump's make-or-break Friday ultimatum to Putin—demanding Russia agree to Ukraine ceasefire talks or face a mammoth sanctions blitz. The crackdown signals Trump is serious about wielding his tariff power to try to bend world leaders to his demands. Switzerland also looked like it would be a loser in Trump's trade war with its president reportedly ending her visit to Washington on Wednesday without a deal to lower its tariff rate.
Telegraph
20 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump taking on Modi risks worst of both worlds
Secondary tariffs on countries buying Russian oil were meant to be the bunker buster in Washington's sanctions armoury, a weapon so devastating it would cripple Moscow's economy. Yet by appearing to punish India alone, Donald Trump risks squandering its impact. He may end up with the worst of all worlds: dropping a bomb too small to do significant damage to Russia while alienating a vital ally and counterweight to China. After months of resolutely refusing to punish Russia, the US president has changed tack. Convinced that Vladimir Putin has no interest in ending the war in Ukraine, Mr Trump has concluded that targeting Russia's energy sector – which generates a third of government revenue – is the key pressure point. 'If energy goes down, Putin is going to stop killing people,' he said this week. India has undeniably helped prop up the Kremlin's war machine, buying £42bn of Russian oil last year. But other nations have also helped fund Putin's invasion. China buys more than India, while Turkey, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and even some European Union states are significant consumers. It is possible that Mr Trump may widen his net in the coming days. He has given Putin until Friday to agree to a ceasefire or face consequences. Until now, Russia has faced a 10 per cent tariff, the lowest level Mr Trump applies. That figure is almost certain to rise, but with bilateral trade at £3.9bn last year, such a move will barely trouble the Kremlin. More direct sanctions on Russia's banks or its shadow tanker fleet could follow, but these too seem unlikely to force a change of course. Secondary tariffs on countries buying Russian oil could, in theory, bite harder. Yet, by singling out India with a 25 per cent penalty, the weapon has been fired half-cocked. Analysts speculate that Mr Trump may extend the measures to other countries. If that is his intent, it is curious he would shame India rather than wait 48 hours to announce a broader policy. The strategy risks misfiring. Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, has endured repeated humiliations from a man he once called a friend. Yet in recent months Mr Trump has imposed higher tariffs on India than on most of its Asian competitors and caused anguish by courting Pakistan, which is closely aligned with China. With public anger in India growing over Washington's perceived high-handedness, Mr Modi would find it politically tricky to halt all Russian oil purchases, even if he wished to. Given the importance of the US market for Indian exports, he may have to find a fudge. Any concession, however, will come at a cost. Analysts say India is now likely to edge closer to China and Russia, weakening one of Washington's most valuable relationships in Asia. Even if India reduces imports, it is unclear whether losing a single buyer – even one as important as Delhi – will seriously dent Russia's war economy. A policy that leaves Putin undeterred while estranging India is hardly a triumph of statecraft – though final judgment must wait until Mr Trump reveals the rest of his plan.
Reuters
20 minutes ago
- Reuters
India-US spat over trade and oil threatens wider fallout
NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's tirade against India over trade and Russian oil purchases threatens to undo two decades of diplomatic progress, analysts and officials say, and could derail other areas of cooperation as domestic political pressures drive both sides to harden their stances. India's opposition parties and the general public have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stand up to what they call bullying by Trump, who on Wednesday signed an executive order subjecting Indian imports to an additional 25% in duties on top of an existing 25% tariff, due to its big purchases of Russian oil. While India has emerged in recent years as a key partner for Washington in its strategic rivalry with China, its large U.S. trade surplus and close relations with Russia - which Trump is seeking to pressure into agreeing to a peace agreement with Ukraine - have made it a prime target in the Republican president's global tariff offensive. Trump's taunt that India could buy oil from arch enemy Pakistan has also not gone down well in New Delhi, said two Indian government sources. India has also rejected repeated claims by Trump that he used trade as a lever to end a recent military conflict between India and Pakistan. In an unusually sharp statement this week, India accused the U.S. of double standards in singling it out for Russian oil imports while continuing to buy Russian uranium hexafluoride, palladium and fertiliser. On Wednesday, it called the tariffs "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable," vowing to "take all actions necessary to protect its national interests." But New Delhi knows that any further escalation will hurt it in matters beyond trade, said the sources. Unlike China, India does not have leverage like supplies of rare earths to force Trump's hand to improve the terms of any trade deal, they said. In recent years, successive U.S. administrations, including Trump's first, carefully cultivated relations with India with an eye on it as a vital partner in long-term efforts to counter the growing might of China. But analysts say Trump's recent moves have plunged the relationship back to possibly its worst phase since the U.S. imposed sanctions on India for nuclear tests in 1998. "India is now in a trap: because of Trump's pressure, Modi will reduce India's oil purchases from Russia, but he cannot publicly admit to doing so for fear of looking like he's surrendering to Trump's blackmail," said Ashley Tellis at Washington's Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "We could be heading into a needless crisis that unravels a quarter century of hard-won gains with India." Indian state refiners have in recent days stopped buying Russian oil as discounts narrowed and pressure from Trump rose, Reuters has reported. A more pressing challenge for India, analysts say, is the stark divergence between its priorities and Trump's political base on key issues such as work visas for tech professionals and offshoring of services. India has long been a major beneficiary of U.S. work visa programs and the outsourcing of software and business services, a sore point for Americans who have lost jobs to cheaper workers in India. Relations with India risk becoming a "football in American domestic politics," warned Evan Feigenbaum, a former senior State Department official under the Republican presidency of George W. Bush. "Issues that directly touch India are among the most partisan and explosive in Washington, including immigration and deportation, H1B visas for tech workers, offshoring and overseas manufacturing by U.S. companies, and technology sharing and co-innovation with foreigners," he wrote in a LinkedIn post. Since a 2008 deal to cooperate on civilian nuclear technology, the two countries have deepened intelligence sharing and defence cooperation and expanded interactions with Australia and Japan through the Quad grouping aimed at containing China's dominance in the Indo-Pacific. But fractures have appeared, despite Modi's rapport with Trump in his first term and then former President Joe Biden. Images in February of Indians deported by the U.S. on military planes, their hands and legs shackled, horrified the country just days before Modi went to see Trump seeking to stave off high tariffs. The relationship was also seriously tested in late 2023 when the U.S. said it had foiled a plot with Indian links to kill a Sikh separatist leader on U.S. soil. New Delhi has denied any official connection to the plot. "The Modi regime's credibility in the U.S. has gone down," said Sukh Deo Muni, a former Indian diplomat and a professor emeritus at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. "And maybe there are people who think that India or Modi had to be brought back on track, if not taught a lesson. And if that trend continues, I'm quite worried that the challenge is quite powerful and strong for India to navigate." One Indian government source said India needs to gradually repair ties with the U.S. while engaging more with other nations that have faced the brunt of Trump tariffs and aid cuts, including the African Union and the BRICS bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. India is already making some moves with Russia and China. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit New Delhi this year and on Tuesday, Russia said the two countries had discussed further strengthening defence cooperation "in the form of a particularly privileged strategic partnership." India has also boosted engagement with China, a change after years of tensions following a deadly border clash in 2020. Modi is set to visit China soon for the first time since 2018. "Russia will attempt to exploit the rift between the U.S. and India by proposing the restoration of the Russia-India-China trilateral and new projects in defence," said analyst Aleksei Zakharov at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. "India will undoubtedly be mindful of structural factors such as sanctions against Russia and will seek to find a compromise with the Trump administration."
