Donald Trump announces 25% additional tariffs on India, 'in response to continued purchases of Russian oil'

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday, August 6, adding 25% tariffs on Indian products , "in response to the continued purchase of Russian oil," a key source of revenue for Russia, the White House announced on one of its X accounts.

This new surcharge comes in addition to the 25% surcharge that is due to come into effect on Thursday, August 7, at the same time as the customs duties that Donald Trump presents as "reciprocal," and will not be effective for another 21 days, according to the decree. It will not apply to a certain number of products, which significantly reduces its scope.

These exemptions, however, concern products that are subject to specific sectoral customs duties, such as steel or aluminum, or which will soon be, such as pharmaceutical products, an important industry in India, or semiconductors.

The measure aims to reduce Russia's ability to finance the conflict in Ukraine , which the decree describes as "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States." "I believe that imposing tariffs, as described here, in addition to other measures taken to address the national emergency, will be more effective in managing this threat," the US president added in the text of the decree.

After China, India is Russia's main customer for its oil, which in 2024 accounted for nearly 36% of Indian oil imports, compared to around 2% before the war, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce. India justifies this dependence on Russian crude because "traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict" in Ukraine, while European countries were looking for solutions to replace Russian hydrocarbons.

Moreover, Western sanctions, particularly the price ceiling imposed on Russian oil, have made it all the more attractive to Indian companies, which have been able to save billions of dollars on import costs.

But Donald Trump has toughened his stance on India in recent weeks, citing these purchases among the reasons for his dissatisfaction. On Tuesday, he announced his intention to increase tariffs on Indian products in response.

"India has not been a good trading partner because they do a lot of business with us, but we don't do business with them. So we agreed on 25%, but I think I'm going to increase that significantly in the next 24 hours because they're buying Russian oil," he said in an interview with CNBC.