US President Donald Trump has announced plans to significantly raise tariffs on India within 24 hours, citing New Delhi’s continued purchase and resale of Russian crude oil. Calling India a supporter of the “Russian war machine,” Trump accused the country of profiting from the Ukraine conflict. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded strongly, defending its energy policy as a “national necessity” and highlighting the West’s own ongoing trade with Russia.
Trump accuses India of ‘fueling the war machine’
While speaking to CNBC, Donald Trump said he intends to "very substantially" increase tariffs on Indian goods due to India’s oil trade with Russia. “They have the highest tariff of anybody. We settled on 25%, but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours because they’re buying Russian oil,” Trump said.
“They’re fueling the war machine… We do little business with India. They do a lot of business with us."
Trump had earlier accused India on his social platform Truth Social, writing, “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine… They’re reselling oil on the open market for big profits.”
India’s sharp rebuttal
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a firm rebuttal, saying that its energy policy is rooted in national security and affordability for its population. “India began importing Russian crude in larger volumes only after Western countries redirected their own energy imports,” the MEA said.
“At the time, the United States actively encouraged such imports by India for stabilizing global energy markets.”
To highlight what it called the “hypocrisy” of the criticism, the MEA cited massive ongoing trade between Russia and the West:
In 2024, the EU conducted €67.5 billion in trade in goods and €17.2 billion in services with Russia.
The EU imported a record 16.5 million tonnes of LNG from Russia in the same year.
The United States continued to import uranium hexafluoride, palladium, and fertilizers from Russia.
“In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable,” the MEA added. “Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” it said.
