US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) refused to have "any knowledge" about the imports of chemicals and fertilisers made by the United States from Russia. His remark comes amid his constant criticism of India for buying Russian oil following the beginning of the Ukraine conflict.
"I don't know anything about it. We will have to check," said Trump when asked a query by news agency ANI about US imports of Russian chemicals and fertilisers.
The US President has been fairly critical of India buying Russian crude and weaponry, and has imposed 25 per cent tariffs on the country. Earlier this week, Trump announced that the US would "substantially raise" tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, a move he has alleged has fueled the Ukraine conflict.
Besides, Trump has also accused India of selling Russian oil in open markets, making huge 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 said in a post on Truth Social on Monday.
'I've never said a percentage'
During his interaction with the media on Tuesday, Trump said he has "never said a percentage" when asked about imposing 100 per cent tariffs on countries buying Russian oil. "I never said a percentage, but we'll be doing quite a bit of that," he said.
"We'll see what happens over the next fairly short period of time... We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We're going to see what happens," the US President said.
India hits out at Trump
Meanwhile, India has criticised Trump for warning that he would "substantially" raise tariffs on New Delhi for buying Russian oil, calling the US President's move "unjustified and unreasonable". In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said India began buying Russian crude only because "traditional supplies were diverted to Europe" following the beginning of the Ukraine war in 2022.
Last week, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had also briefed the Parliament about US tariffs, and said that the central government would take all necessary steps to protest India's national interest.
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