US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 25 percent tariff and additional punitive duty on imports from India. This decision will come into effect from August 1. The President released this notification on his social media platform ‘Truth Social’.
According to President Trump, “India is a friendly nation, but our trade relationship has been relatively limited for years because of high tariffs.” He mentioned that the US currently faces a trade deficit with India.
This proposal has come at a time when negotiations were going on between the two countries on a trade agreement, but no limited agreement could be reached yet.
The President objected to India’s continued import of military equipment and energy from Russia during the Ukraine conflict. “India has traditionally been a recipient of military equipment from Russia and, along with China, is a major importer of Russian energy. This situation is not favorable at a time when the global community is protesting Russian actions in Ukraine,” he said.
He clarified in his message, “For these reasons, India will be imposed with a 25 percent tariff and additional punitive duties, effective from August 1.”
Earlier, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had noted the positive progress in trade talks with the US last week.
