US President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent additional tariffs on India on Wednesday, which means that now the US will impose 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods from August 27. The previously announced 25 per cent tariffs came into effect today, August 7. The US said that it has increased the tariffs due to India’s continuous purchase of Russian oil. This decision of Trump has increased the tension in the relations between India and the US.
The US itself imports huge quantities of uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for the electronic vehicle industry and fertilisers and chemicals from Russia.
Washington DC-based South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman told news agency ANI that this is the “worst crisis” between the two countries in the last two decades of strategic partnership and added that it could have a “detrimental impact on US-India relations”. He raised a key question: whether the US is angry only about India buying Russian oil or is there something else going on?
But first, let’s understand how much crude oil India buys and from which countries.
How much crude oil did India import from other countries in 2024?
India imports more than 85 per cent of its crude oil requirement. Russia comes first in this list as more than one-third of India’s crude oil comes from Russia. India bought about 1.8 million barrels of Russian crude oil every day in 2024, which is about 37 per cent of Russia’s total oil exports. 1.8 million barrels per day means that every hour in 2024, India bought 75,000 barrels of crude oil from Russia.
Along with Russia, India took 1.02 million barrels of crude oil per day from Iraq, 0.64 million barrels of crude oil per day from Saudi Arabia, 0.45 million barrels of crude oil per day from UAE and 0.17 million barrels of crude oil per day from America in 2024.
Is America unhappy only with Russian oil imports or is there some other reason?
Michael Kugelman, an expert on US foreign policy and South Asian affairs, says it is striking that Trump is going to this extent against an ally like India. There appear to be three main reasons for Trump’s anger towards India, including economic and foreign policy reasons as well as a personal one, says Kugelman, as quoted by Navbharat Times.
The first reason is economic. Trump wants India to buy American oil. Although India has increased its energy purchases from the US in recent years, Trump wants India to meet all its energy needs from the US, which will benefit the US economy, says Kugelman.
The second reason is related to the Ukraine war. Trump had promised to end the Ukraine war during his election campaign and since becoming president, he has been constantly making efforts in this direction. It seems that he got disappointed when Russian President Putin did not listen to him on this issue. Now, since Putin has not been able to get his way, he is venting his anger on Russia’s allies, such as India.
The third reason is personal, observes Kugelman. This personal resentment of Donald Trump stems from the conflict between India and Pakistan. Trump wants to take credit for stopping that four-day conflict and has claimed several times that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan happened because of him. Pakistan has also praised Trump, supporting this claim.
On the contrary, India has clearly said that Trump had no role in the ceasefire and it was possible due to talks between the military officials of India and Pakistan. This denial by India has dealt a blow to Trump’s ambition to polish his image and get the Nobel Peace Prize, which may be one of the reasons behind his recent actions.
India’s Reaction on Double US Tariff
India reacted sternly after Trump’s announcement of additional 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. In an official statement, the Ministry Of External Affairs said, “The United States has in recent days targeted India’s oil imports from Russia. We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India.”
Questioning the US’ inaction against other nations, India said, “It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest.”
India voiced its protest in strong words as it said, “We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests.”