Former U.S. President Donald Trump has made a bold promise that could hurt trade between the U.S. and India: he will keep “massive tariffs” on India if New Delhi keeps buying Russian oil at low prices. Trump said at a campaign rally that any country that “profited from cheap Russian oil” would face “severe trade consequences” if he were elected.
The comments come at a time when the world is paying more attention to India’s crude oil imports from Russia, which have gone up since the Ukraine conflict began. India has become one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil, even though the West has put sanctions on Russia. India refines the oil for use at home and for export.
Experts think that Trump’s comments could mean that the U.S. will be tougher on trade with India, which could undo recent efforts to improve the two countries’ economic and defense ties. Trump often called India a “tariff king” when he was in office before because he didn’t like how they did business.
Analysts say that putting high tariffs back in place could hurt industries like pharmaceuticals, IT services, and energy trade, which would hurt the multi-billion-dollar relationship between Washington and New Delhi.
As the race for the White House heats up in 2024, Trump’s stance shows that he is serious about putting American economic interests first and pushing allies to follow U.S. sanctions policy against Russia.
