Trump doubles tariff on India to 50% as penalty for New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil

07 Aug 2025 Evaluate

US President Donald Trump has slapped an additional 25 per cent tariff on goods coming from India as penalty for New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil, a move that is likely to hit sectors such as textiles, marine and leather exports hard. Trump signed an executive order - Addressing Threats to the US by the Government of the Russian Federation - imposing the additional tariff over and above the 25 per cent levy which comes into effect from August 7. After this order, the total tariff on Indian goods, barring a small exemption list, will be 50 per cent. While the initial duty becomes effective on August 7, the additional levy will come into effect after 21 days or August 27.

He said ‘I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil. Accordingly, and as consistent with applicable law, articles of India imported into the customs territory of the United States shall be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent’. India buys about 88 per cent of its crude oil, which is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel, from overseas. Russian oil made up for hardly 0.2 per cent of all crude oil that India imported till 2021. After Moscow invaded Ukraine, Russian oil was available at a discount to international benchmarks due to western sanctions, and was quickly lapped up by Indian refiners. Russia is now India's largest oil supplier. In July, India imported about 5 million barrels of oil a day, of which 1.6 million barrels came from Russia.

After the new levy, India will attract the highest tariff of 50 per cent along with Brazil. After this, India's competitors will be much better placed in the US market as their duty is lower - Myanmar (40 per cent), Thailand and Cambodia (both 36 per cent), Bangladesh (35 per cent), Indonesia (32 per cent), China and Sri Lanka (both 30 per cent), Malaysia (25 per cent), Philippines and Vietnam (both 20 per cent). There was no immediate response from the Indian government on the fresh levy. The announcement comes at a time when a US team is scheduled to visit India from August 25 for the sixth round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA).

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