U.S. Hits India with 25% Tariff, Additional Penalty for Russian Oil Purchases
In July 30, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on imports from India, set to take effect on August 1. In a message posted on Truth Social, Trump branded India as a friend but accused it of imposing high tariffs on U.S. goods and trading heavily with Russia—particularly for oil and military supplies. Simultaneously, he pledged an unspecified “penalty” for India’s continued Russian energy engagements.
India, long a champion of non-alignment and strategic autonomy, now finds itself balancing its defence and energy ties with Russia against growing trade dependency on the U.S.
Trump’s move follows India’s growing energy and defence partnership with Russia, which has become a point of friction with Washington amid the war in Ukraine. The tariff reflects frustration over what the U.S. sees as India enabling Russia’s war efforts through trade.
The tariff jeopardizes a large part of India’s export economy: U.S. trade with India totaled about $87.4 billion in 2024, whereas India’s exports to the U.S. were nearly $41.8 billion—meaning much of India’s trade is at risk.
The move also complicates ongoing trade negotiations, as India had aimed for a bilateral deal aimed at doubling trade to $500 billion by 2030. Trump’s approach has injected uncertainty into those talks.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs emphasized that India-Russia ties remain “steady and time-tested,” even as refiners reportedly paused spot-market purchases of Russian crude — although no formal government mandate was issued.
India buys over a third of its oil from Russia—amounting to around 2 million barrels per day, or about 2% of global supply. Trump has warned that this could trigger further “secondary tariffs”—potentially rising to 100%—if no change occurs by August 8.
If India fully disengages from Russian oil, analysts caution that Moscow might retaliate by halting exports via the CPC pipeline, potentially causing a global oil supply deficit of around 3.5 million bpd and pushing crude prices over US $80/barrel.
Truth Social is a social media service launched in 2022 by Trump Media & Technology Group, which is owned by former US president Donald Trump.
