Sharp tariff hike on India in 24 hours, warns Trump

US president raises oil, tariff issues again; Russia steps up to defend India's rights

- Dhirendra Kumar

In a sharp escalation of trade tensions, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that he would impose higher tariffs on Indian goods within 24 hours, citing India's continued purchases of Russian oil.

In an interview with CNBC, Trump accused India of fueling Russia's war in Ukraine and labeled it the "highest tariff nation," claiming that India benefits from US trade while not offering reciprocal access.

"With India...what people don't like to say is they have the highest tariff of anybody. We do very little business with them because their tariffs are so high," Trump said, adding, "We settled on 25%, but I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they're buying Russian oil. They're fueling the war machine."

Russia swiftly stepped up to India's support, denouncing the US stance as part of a "neo-colonial agenda" aimed at arm-twisting sovereign nations.

The spat comes amid ongoing trade negotiations between India and the US, and growing friction over Washington's tariff actions.

Earlier in the day, India's minister of state for commerce Jitin Prasada told Parliament that New Delhi has not received any response from Washington to its request for consultations under a WTO agreement regarding the steep 50% duty imposed by the US on Indian steel, aluminum, and related products.

The US has cited national security concerns, a claim India disputes.