President Donald Trump has been facing scrutiny regarding his policies towards Russia, especially concerning India’s trade relations. On September 3rd, Trump declared that he had already levied initial sanctions against India as a result of its purchase of Russian oil, implying that further punitive measures might be forthcoming. He estimated that this move had inflicted hundreds of billions of dollars in losses on Moscow and highlighted that additional sanctions, termed “phase two” and “phase three,” were still being evaluated.
These remarks were made during a meeting with Polish President Karol Navrocki in the Oval Office. Trump’s response came after a Polish journalist inquired about the lack of concrete action against Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite Trump’s vocal displeasure with him. The journalist raised the point that while Trump had criticized Putin, no tangible actions had been taken. This query clearly agitated Trump.
Trump responded aggressively, questioning the journalist, “How do you know no action was taken? Would you consider imposing secondary sanctions on India, the biggest buyer outside of China, as an almost equivalent measure? Would you say that constitutes no action? It has cost Russia hundreds of billions of dollars. Would you not call that action? And I haven’t even finished phase two or phase three. But when you claim there was no action, I believe you need to find another job.”
Trump then asserted that his stance towards India was unambiguous, stating, “Two weeks ago, I stated that if India buys oil, it will face substantial problems, and that’s precisely what occurred. So, don’t mention it to me.”
Regarding the issue of Putin’s appearance alongside Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping during a military parade in Beijing and the potential for secondary sanctions against Moscow, Trump affirmed that his administration had already taken action against Moscow by targeting India. He stated, “I’ve already taken action on India, and we are doing the same on other fronts as well.”
He underscored that India is the second-largest purchaser of Russian oil, following China, and suggested that India might face further repercussions if it continues to import energy from Moscow. While the United States has temporarily deferred additional tariffs on China until November, it has imposed significant tariffs on India. Trump implemented a 25 percent tariff on India, alongside an extra 25 percent tariff on India’s purchase of Russian oil. These new measures, which were implemented on August 27th, effectively doubled the tariffs on Indian products, bringing the total to 50 percent.
In response to these developments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that he would not compromise the interests of farmers, livestock holders, and small-scale industries. He cautioned that they might encounter increased pressure but would remain resilient. India has denounced the tariffs imposed by the United States as unjust, maintaining that it will adopt all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security, as any major economy would.