New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump warned on Monday that he is going to significantly increase US duty on India for buying oil from Russia.
Trump accused India of buying oil from Russia in large quantities and selling it at huge profits. The US President wrote on social media, “India is not only buying huge quantities of oil from Russia, but is also making huge profits by selling a large part of that oil at high prices in the open market.” Along with this, Trump said, “It (India) does not care how many people are killed by Russia’s war machine in Ukraine. That is why I am going to significantly increase the duty paid by India to America.”
Last week, Trump had announced imposing 25 percent customs duty on Indian imports as well as imposing a penalty on buying oil and gas from Russia.
The US President had announced a fine on India for buying military equipment and crude oil from Russia, but there was no mention of it in the subsequent notification. Last week, Trump had also launched a scathing attack on India-Russia relations and said that both countries could take their ‘dead economies’ to the abyss together.
India, in its response, said that it will take all necessary steps to protect and promote national interests and it is examining the effects of the tariff.
These announcements by Trump are being seen as a strategy to build pressure in favor of America’s demands in the proposed trade agreement with India. America is seeking duty concessions from India on its agriculture, dairy and genetically modified (GM) foods. India is against giving any concessions in these areas, these are related to the livelihood of millions of small and marginalized farmers.
India has said that it is studying the effects of these tariffs and is still hoping to reach a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement. So far, five rounds of talks have taken place between the two countries. The US team is coming to India on August 25 for the next round of talks. The talks will continue till August 29.
