US President Donald Trump on Monday has issued a fresh warning for India, saying he will “substantially raise” the tariff imposed on the country. This new statement comes a week after Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff for India in view of New Delhi’s “high tariffs on US goods” and its purchase of Russian oil and military products.
Trump’s latest message on Truth Social comes amid the US president’s efforts to establish a ceasefire in Ukraine. Citing India’s close ties with Russia amid the ongoing war, Trump warned of a higher tariff.
“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Last week, Trump had issued another verbal attack against India on Truth Social, and called on both New Delhi and Moscow to “take their dead economies and go down together.”
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social last week. “We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” he added.
Ahead of the August 1 deadline, Trump announced 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, along with an unspecified penalty over purchases from Russia. In his announcement last week, the US President said that India’s tariffs “were among the highest in the world”, adding that New Delhi had the “most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any country”.