Tariffs: Livid at exposure, Trump doubles import duty on India to 50%
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A day after India exposed the US-led West’s duplicity on imports from Russia, a furious President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled the tariff on India to 50 percent for buying crude from Moscow, alleging New Delhi was ‘funding’ Russia for its ongoing war against Ukraine.
He has, of late, been threatening to impose “significantly higher” tariffs against Indian imports.
The fate of the two countries’ trade negotiating teams, which were scheduled to meet again on August 25, now hangs in the balance.
Trump signed an executive order imposing the additional tariff less than 14 hours before his initial tariffs were to come into effect, the media reported.
He slapped an additional 25 percent tariff on goods coming from India into the US as a penalty for New Delhi’s continued buying of Russian oil.
After the order, the total tariff on Indian goods, barring a small exemption list, will be 50 percent.
While the initial duty becomes effective on August 7, the additional levy will come into effect after 21 days.
