India Issues Stern Reply To Trump's Tariff Hike Threat, Says 'Targeted By US'

US President Trump with PM Narendra Modi (Credit: File Photo/ANI)

New Delhi: The Indian government has issued a strongly worded response following US President Donald Trump's recent threat to impose additional tariffs on Indian goods. The statement, released on Monday by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), asserts that India is being unfairly singled out by both the United States and the European Union for its continued imports of Russian oil.

In the official statement, the MEA said, "India has been targeted by the United States and the European Union for importing oil from Russia after the commencement of the Ukraine conflict. In fact, India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability."

India emphasized that its energy imports are essential to ensuring domestic affordability and energy security amid global market disruptions.

"India’s imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer. They are a necessity compelled by global market situation. However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion."

Statement by Official Spokesperson
https://t.co/O2hJTOZBby pic.twitter.com/RTQ2beJC0W

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) August 4, 2025

Backing its claims with data, the MEA pointed out the scale of ongoing EU-Russia and US-Russia trade, calling the criticism of India "unjustified."

"The European Union in 2024 had a bilateral trade of Euro 67.5 billion in goods with Russia. In addition, it had trade in services estimated at Euro 17.2 billion in 2023. This is significantly more than India’s total trade with Russia that year or subsequently. European imports of LNG in 2024, in fact, reached a record 16.5mn tonnes, surpassing the last record of 15.21mn tonnes in 2022."

"Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy, but also fertilizers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel and machinery and transport equipment. Where the United States is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilizers as well as chemicals. 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."

Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump took to Truth Social, sharply criticizing India’s trade with Russia amid the ongoing Ukraine war.

"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. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA," Trump wrote.

Trump announced the imposition of a 25% tariff on Indian goods starting August 1, 2025, citing India’s trade policies and its alignment with the BRICS bloc. According to Trump, India’s tariffs on US products are among “the highest in the world.” He labeled India's actions as part of a broader anti-American agenda.