After Trump’s Latest Tariff Threat, India Terms US, EU Criticism ‘Unjustified and Unreasonable’

New Delhi: Hours after former US President Donald Trump on Monday (August 4) threatened to “substantially raise tariffs” on India over its oil trade with Russia, New Delhi termed the targeting of India by Washington and Brussels as “unjustified and unreasonable” and declared it would take “all necessary measures”.

Posting on his platform Truth Social, Trump alleged, “India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian oil, they are then, for much of the oil purchased, selling it on the open market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine.”

“Because of this,” he added, “I will be substantially raising the tariff paid by India to the USA.”

India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded not only to Trump’s remarks, but also to referred to the European Union, which had recently sanctioned an Indian refinery. “India has been targeted by the United States and the European Union for importing oil from Russia after the commencement of the Ukraine conflict,” said the MEA statement.

It added that New Delhi had turned to Russian oil only because “traditional supplies were diverted to Europe” following the outbreak of the war. “The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability,” the MEA said.

India described its oil imports as “a necessity compelled by global market situation”, and said it was “revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia”.

“Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion,” it added.

The MEA cited figures to argue that the scale of trade between Russia and the US and EU far outweighed India’s. “The European Union in 2024 had a bilateral trade of Euro 67.5 billion in goods with Russia. In addition, it had trade in services estimated at Euro 17.2 billion in 2023. This is significantly more than India’s total trade with Russia that year or subsequently,” the statement said.

It noted that “European imports of LNG in 2024, in fact, reached a record 16.5mn tonnes, surpassing the last record of 15.21mn tonnes in 2022

Regarding the US, the statement said it “continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilizers as well as chemicals”.

“In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable,” the MEA concluded. “Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.”

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, India sourced most of its crude oil from the Gulf. But since the war began in February 2022, it has emerged as the second-largest buyer of Russian oil, after China.

The latest Truth Social post was not the first time Trump had threatened India with additional tariffs over its oil trade with Russia. Last week, while announcing a 25% tariff on Indian goods, he warned of an added “penalty” for India’s continued purchase of Russian oil and military equipment. When pressed for details at a White House briefing, Trump did not specify a figure but said negotiations between New Delhi and Washington were still underway.

India’s response last week had been cautious to Trump’s broadsides, asserting that India-US ties had “weathered several transitions and challenges” in the past and New Delhi is “confident that the relationship will continue to move forward”.

Earlier, the European Union had on July 18 announced “one of its strongest” packages of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, with measures that include targeting Rosneft’s refinery operations in India and restricting refined oil imports produced from Russian crude by third countries.

The MEA had responded to EU’s measures by stating that India “does not subscribe to any unilateral sanction measures”.

A day earlier, yet another top Trump aide, the deputy chief of staff at the White House, Stephen Miller accused India of “financing” Russia’s war against Ukraine by purchasing oil. Reuters reported that Miller said to Fox News on August 3, “What he (Trump) said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia.”

“People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That’s an astonishing fact,” Miller had said.

The tariff was set to kick in on August 1, but the executive order Trump signed on Thursday (July 31), which also enumerated new tariffs against dozens of other US trading partners, set the date of implementation as August 7.

Meanwhile, two Indian government sources had told Reuters and other news outlets that India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Trump’s threats.

In July, Trump had threatened a 100% tariff on countries buying Russian oil if Moscow did not meet his deadline for striking a ceasefire with Kyiv.

However, Reuters reported on July 25, citing three sources working with Indian refiners, that Trump is unlikely to follow through on this threat because it would “worsen politically-damaging inflation pressures and his similar threat against buyers of Venezuelan oil has had limited success, especially in China”.

At the outset of Trump’s second term, New Delhi had been among the few world capitals to be sanguine that relations with the new administration would be positive. 

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar represented India at the inauguration, seated prominently near the front. Less than a month later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington for talks with Trump. Although the deportation of Indian nationals and early talk of reciprocal tariffs had already caused concern in New Delhi, the launch of bilateral trade negotiations during Modi’s visit was seen as a promising sign — potentially a way to work around the tariff regime. There is no sign of the treaty, till now.

However, ties began to fray more visibly after Operation Sindoor. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following their military skirmishes - a claim the Indian government officially denied. 

The perception of a tilt towards Pakistan was reinforced when Trump hosted a luncheon for Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and more recently taunted India after finalising a trade deal with Islamabad that includes the development of “massive” oil reserves.

After Trump’s latest salvo against India on social media, Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh questioned the Modi government’s past attempts to project a close rapport with the former US president.

“So much for Howdy Modi. So much for Namaste Trump. So much for Ab ki Baar Trump Sarkar. So much for BJP MPs hailing Narendra Modi as India's trumpcard. Despite all the hugs, all the handshakes, all the high-decibel bromance — “My friend Dolaand” has delivered yet another jolt,” he wrote on X, adding, “This is what happens when foreign policy becomes about image-building, not national interest”.

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