India on Wednesday issued a sharp rebuttal following US President Donald Trump's decision to impose an additional tariff of 25 per cent on Indian goods, calling it "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable."
Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to place an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on its ally to 50%.
"The United States has in recent days targeted India's oil imports from Russia. We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
"It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest. We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests," it added.
Trump had announced 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods earlier this month, which is set to go into effect Thursday. The additional 25% tariff, announced by him, will go into effect later this month as punishment for importing Russian oil and gas.
Earlier this week too, India had mounted an unusually sharp counterattack on the US and the European Union for their “unjustified and unreasonable” targeting of New Delhi for its procurement of Russian crude oil.
Firmly rejecting the criticism, India pointed out the double standards in targeting it on the issue and said both the US and the EU are continuing their trade relations with Russia.
“Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
The Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy, but also fertilisers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel, and machinery and transport equipment, the MEA said.
“Where the US is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals,” it added.
“In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” the MEA said.
Trump earlier this week threatened India with the new tariffs, saying they were helping Russia wage war in Ukraine.
“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” he wrote on social media.
These announcements by Trump are being seen as a pressure tactic to get New Delhi to agree to demands made by the US in the proposed trade agreement with India. The US is seeking duty concessions for its agriculture, dairy and genetically modified (GM) foods. India is against giving any concessions in these sectors as they involve the livelihood of millions of small and marginalised farmers.
So far five rounds of negotiations have been held between the two countries. For the next round of talks, the US team is coming to India on August 25. The talks will go on till August 29.
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