Trump says he never fixed a percentage for tariffs on Russian oil buyers

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) said that he never mentioned a percentage that he would impose on Russia's trading partners.

 

Trump made these remarks during a press conference at the White House, which was originally called to discuss the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. When asked about imposing a 100 per cent tariff on countries buying Russian energy, he noted, "I never said a percentage, but we'll be doing quite a bit of that. We'll see what happens over the next fairly short period of time... We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We're going to see what happens..."

 

 

Trump's change in stance comes hours after he suggested imposing increased tariffs on additional countries buying energy from Russia, including China. Earlier on Tuesday (local time), Trump announced that he would increase levies on Indian exports within 24 hours. 

 

According to a Bloomberg report, earlier this month, Trump told reporters that he intended to do “very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 per cent.”

 

US-Russia ties

 

Trump's hardened stance against Russia comes as the former has been unsuccessful in stopping the Russia-Ukraine war, which entered its fourth year in February this year. Previously, the US President tried to secure a ceasefire between the two countries and supported Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, ever since peace talks have stalled between the two, Trump, on several occasions, has called for an end to the war and expressed his disappointment with Putin. The recent shift in Trump's remarks shows how his willingness to deal with the Russian President is being tested. The recent change in his remarks also marks a departure from much of the ire he directed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the first few months of his term.

 

Earlier on Monday (local time), Russia's foreign ministry announced that it no longer considered itself bound by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with America because the conditions that were required to maintain the treaty had "disappeared". 

 

India bears the brunt of US-Russia ties

 

While India failed to secure a tariff deal with the US before the August 1 deadline, New Delhi is now facing intensified pressure from the Trump administration over its trading with Russia amid the ongoing war. 

 

On Tuesday, Trump announced that he would substantially raise tariffs on Indian imports in the next 24 hours. In an interview with CNBC, he said, "They're fueling the war machine, and if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy".

 

Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff rate on India, down from 26 per cent, which was initially announced in April this year. He also vowed to levy a penalty on India and other countries buying Russian oil. In a post on Truth Social, his private social media platform, Trump said, "They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!

INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST." 

 

In a separate post, he doubled down on both India and Russia and said, "I don't care what India does with Russia.

They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let's keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he's still President, to watch his words. He's entering very dangerous territory!"

 

India's response to Trump's tariff threat

 

Earlier on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) released a statement in response to the tariff threats made by Donald Trump. In a sharp rebuttal, the MEA reminded Washington that New Delhi was encouraged to import oil from Russia when the conflict with Ukraine broke out. Calling his statements "unreasonable and unjustified", MEA defended its oil imports from Russia, adding that they were driven by national necessity and were far smaller in scale compared to the West’s energy purchases.