US President Donald Trump on August 5, 2025, addressed concerns over his tariff threats against countries, including India, for engaging in trade with Russia, stating he never specified an exact tariff percentage. This follows his recent imposition of 25% tariffs on Indian imports and warnings of further penalties due to India’s significant energy purchases from Russia. The remarks come as India defends its trade practices, highlighting the US’s own commerce with Moscow and ongoing efforts to strengthen India-Russia defence ties.
Trump’s Tariff Stance and Upcoming Russia Talks
During a press conference, Trump clarified his position on potential tariffs targeting countries like India and China for buying Russian energy. “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. But we will see what happens…,” he said, responding to questions about his earlier threat of “100% tariffs” on nations purchasing Russian oil. Last month, Trump had warned of “secondary tariffs” if Russia failed to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine within 50 days, stating, “We’re very, very unhappy with them. And we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days. Tariffs at about 100 per cent, you’d call them secondary tariffs.”
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With a meeting scheduled between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian officials on August 6, 2025, Trump indicated that decisions on secondary sanctions would follow. The US has already imposed 25% tariffs on Indian imports, citing India’s role as Russia’s “largest buyer of energy,” with oil purchases amounting to $50.2 billion in 2024-25. However, Trump appeared unaware of India’s counterargument regarding US trade with Russia, saying, “I don’t know anything about it, I’d have to check, but we’ll get back to you on that.”
India Defends Trade with Russia Amid Strengthening Ties
India has robustly defended its energy imports from Russia, arguing that its purchases were encouraged by the US to stabilize global energy markets after traditional supplies were redirected to Europe following the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability,” India’s foreign ministry stated. New Delhi also pointed out the US’s own trade with Russia, including imports of uranium hexafluoride, fertilizers, and chemicals, accusing the US and EU of unfairly targeting India.
Amid these tensions, India and Russia are deepening their defence cooperation. During a recent meeting, Indian Ambassador Vinay Kumar and Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister Colonel-General Alexander Fomin discussed enhancing bilateral defence ties. The Russian Ministry of Defence stated, “During the conversation, the two sides discussed in detail the pertinent issues of bilateral interaction in the sphere of defence and confirmed their intent toward the further strengthening of relevant cooperation in the spirit of particularly privileged strategic partnership.”
