(Washington) US President Donald Trump signed a decree adding 25 % customs duties on Indian products on Wednesday, “in response to the continuous purchase of Russian oil”, an essential source of income for Moscow, the White House announced on one of its X accounts.
This new surcharge is added to that of 25 % which must come into force Thursday, at the same time as the customs duties that Mr. Trump presents as “reciprocal”, and will only be effective in 21 days, according to the decree. It will not apply to a certain number of products, which significantly reduces its scope.
However, these exemptions concern products targeted by specific sectoral customs duties, such as steel or aluminum, or which will soon be, such as pharmaceutical products, important industry in India, or semiconductors.
The publication of the decree slowed down the increase in oil prices, which nevertheless remains on the rise on Wednesday.
This measure aims to reduce Moscow’s ability to finance the conflict in Ukraine, presented in the decree as “an unusual and extraordinary threat to national security and foreign policy of the United States”.
“I believe that imposing customs duties, as described here, in addition to the other measures taken to respond to the national emergency will be more effective in managing this threat,” added the American president in the text of the decree.
After China, India is the main Russian customer for its oil, which in 2024 represented almost 36 % of Indian imports in this area, against around 2 % before the war, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce.
New Delhi justifies this dependence on Russian crude because “traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict” in Ukraine, while European countries were looking for alternatives to Russian hydrocarbons.
In addition, Western sanctions, in particular the price-pounding imposed on Russian oil, made it all the more interesting for Indian companies, which have thus been able to save billions of dollars on import costs.
But Donald Trump has hardened the tone in recent weeks vis-Ã -vis New Delhi, citing in particular these purchases among the reasons for his dissatisfaction.
He had expressed his intention to increase customs duties on Tuesday aimed at Indian products in response.
“India was not a good business partner, because it does a lot of business with us, but we do not do it with it. So we agreed on 25 % but I think I will increase this figure significantly in the coming 24 hours, because they buy Russian oil, “he said during an interview with the CNBC channel.
