The Daily Populous Thursday August 7th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by cnbc.com and submitted by Mundane-Laugh8562

US President Donald Trump (R) and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrive for a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo by Prakash SINGH / AFP) (Photo by PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images)

The White House announced Wednesday that it is imposing an additional 25% tariff on India, bringing the total levies against the major United States trading partner to 50%.

"I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil," President Donald Trump said in an executive order.

"Accordingly, and as consistent with applicable law, articles of India imported into the customs territory of the United States shall be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent," the executive order reads.

The new tariffs are set to go into effect in 21 days, according to the order, while the previously announced 25% tariffs are set to take effect on Thursday.

Trump's new tariff rate on India is now among the highest levies on any of the United States' trading partners.

It's the latest sign that Trump is following through on his threat to punish countries that buy Russian oil, as he's increased his rhetoric in recent weeks over President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

The tariffs against India came as Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Wednesday in Moscow with Putin, days before the White House's deadline for Russia to strike a peace deal with Ukraine.

A White House official said the meeting "went well" and "the Russians are eager to continue engaging with the United States."

The secondary tariffs that Trump has threatened against countries that buy Russian oil are still expected to be implemented Friday, the official said.

In response to the steep levies, India said it is "extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs ... for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest," according to 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 of India," an official spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs said.

"We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable," the statement continued.

Trump's order also directs members of his administration to "determine whether any other country is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil," and determine "whether and to what extent I should take action as to that country."

plutoXL on August 6th, 2025 at 15:40 UTC »

Obviously his trade policy is less about economics and more about whether a country's leaders are willing to kiss the ring. Countries with a history of strategic independence, like India or Switzerland, get hit with these punitive tariffs as a result.

JustGulabjamun on August 6th, 2025 at 15:36 UTC »

Indian domestic consumption is about 60% of its GDP. Idk how will this hurt Indian economy. Ofc it will temporarily damage some sectors, but there are more than enough ways to bypass tariffs. I wish India imposes duty on generic medicines exported to US, which is about 45% of total generic medicine supply of US.

StarsInTears on August 6th, 2025 at 15:05 UTC »

This is higher than the tariffs on China. This means that according to US, India is a bigger adversary than China. I guess it's good that we have this clarity now. Time to start preparing for the G2 of this century, time to revive NAM and create a much more powerful NAM 2.0.