Image Source: Agencies

Aug 7, 2025: As he predicted that "you are going to see so much secondary sanctions," US President Donald Trump stated that India will pay tariffs of fifty percent and is "very close" to China in terms of its purchases of Russian oil. As you are aware, we imposed a 50 percent oil tariff on India. They are the second largest, they are very close to China in terms of the purchase of oil from Russia," Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Early on Wednesday, Trump issued an executive order titled "Addressing Threats to the US by the Government of the Russian Federation," which imposed an additional 25% tariff on India for the country's oil purchases from Russia. After the Trump administration announced 25 percent tariffs on India last week, which take effect on August 7, this brought the total levies imposed on India to 50 percent, making it one of the highest levies Washington has imposed on any country. The additional 25 per cent duty will come into effect after 21 days or August 27.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Besant, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick were all present at the White House event when the company announced that it would invest USD 600 billion in the United States over the course of the next four years. Several questions were posed to Trump regarding his decision to impose additional tariffs on India. "We will determine that later, but right now, they are paying a 50% tariff," Trump responded to a question regarding whether he would eliminate India's additional tariffs if he reached a settlement with Russia and Ukraine. After that, Indian officials informed Trump that China and other nations are purchasing Russian oil, to which he responded, "It is okay." On why was he singling India out for these additional tariffs, the US president said "it has only been eight hours, so let us see what happens over the next.... You are going to see a lot more. There will be numerous secondary sanctions. India is the only buyer for which the additional tariff or penalty for Russian imports has been imposed by the United States; other buyers, like China and Turkey, have thus far escaped such measures. The 30 per cent tariff on China and 15 per cent on Turkey is lower than India's 50 per cent.
Asked about the additional penalties on India and whether he has any similar plans to enact more tariffs on China for its purchases, Trump said, "Could happen, could happen. based on our performance. Could occur." He responded, "It may happen, I do not know, I cannot tell you yet," to a subsequent question regarding the possibility of imposing tariffs on China for its purchases of Russian oil. With India, we did it. We are probably doing it with a few others. One of them could be China."
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement in response to Trump's new tariffs, stating that the decision by the United States to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other nations are also taking in their own national interest is "extremely unfortunate." The MEA said in a statement, "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 in India," and that the US has targeted India's oil imports from Russia in recent days. "We reiterate that these actions are unreasonable, unfair, and without justification." India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests," it said.