Tiding over tariff storm

On August 6, President Donald Trump issued an executive order announcing the imposition of an additional ad valorem duty of 25% on Indian imports starting from August 27 for "directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil".

- BISWAJIT DHAR

This was in addition to the 25% reciprocal tariff that took effect on August 7. The additional duty levied on India is unfair on at least two counts.

First, energy industry consultants asserted that India began purchasing Russian oil in a major way at the behest of the US (bit.ly/3JUqRwU). Following the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia, the Biden administration asked India to buy Russian crude to prevent a major oil price spike that would have, in turn, resulted in high gasoline prices in the US, which was already burdened with inflationary pressures.

Secondly, several other countries, including China, Türkiye, Brazil, and in the European Union (EU), have also been buying oil and oil products "directly and indirectly" from the Russian Federation, even after Western sanctions took effect. Since 2022-23, the EU emerged as a major importer of India's petroleum products. While its share in India's total exports before Russia's invasion of Ukraine was 12%, during the previous fiscal its share had almost doubled to 22%. What must be pointed out is that the US has also been buying petroleum products from India, even during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Its share in India's exports remained almost constant at 7%, going up to 8% in the first half of 2025, the highest since 2022. The question is, how can President Trump and the US administration ignore the fact that China and the EU, among others, have been "directly and indirectly" importing Russian oil? More importantly, do they have the moral high ground to "punish" India for importing Russian oil for the reasons adduced above?