WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he would increase the tariff charged on imports from India from the current rate of 25 per cent “very substantially” over the next 24 hours, in view of New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil.

He also said a “zero tariff” offer for imports of US goods into India was not good enough, alleging that India was “fuelling the war” in Ukraine.

Trump’s threat to India over its purchases of Russian oil started on July 31, when he announced a 25pc tariff for Indian goods, along with an unspecified penalty.

“They’re fuelling the war machine, and if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy,” Trump told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday, adding that the main sticking point with India was that its tariffs were too high.

“Now, I will say this, India went from the highest tariffs ever. They will give us zero tariffs, and they’re going to let us go in. But that’s not good enough, because of what they’re doing with oil, not good.”

An Indian government source said that India’s purchases of Russian oil have helped to stabilise global oil prices by easing the pressure on supplies from other regions.

India, which is the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, buys more than a third of the oil it needs from Russia.

India hits back, markets slide

Meanwhile, in a show of political unity, India’s ruling party and main opposition condemned the US president’s threat.

Manish Tewari, a member of parliament and leader of the opposition Congress, said Trump’s “disparaging remarks hurt the dignity and self-respect of Indians”.

“The time has come to call out this constant bullying and hectoring,” he added.

BJP Vice President Baijayant Jay Panda quoted Henry Kissinger – the most powerful US diplomat of the Cold War era – in a post on X: “To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”

India’s Foreign Ministry said the country was being unfairly singled out over its purchases of Russian oil, and highlighted continued trade between Moscow and both the United States and the European Union, despite the war in Ukraine.

“It is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia,” it said in a statement issued late on Monday.

It also accused the United States and the European Union of a double standard, saying it is being unfairly singled out by them over its Russian oil purchases when they both trade extensively with Moscow despite the war in Ukraine.

But the Indian rupee, which was expected to drop to an all-time low against the dollar, was rescued by a likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India.

The rupee closed at 87.8000 to the US dollar, down 0.2pc from Monday’s close of 87.6550. The currency fell to a low of 87.8850 on Tuesday, just shy of an all-time low of 87.95 hit in February. The Reserve Bank of India helped absorb some tariff-related pressure on the rupee through interventions conducted by state-run banks, a trader at a state-owned lender said.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025