Foreign ministry calls 50% levy ‘unjustified and unreasonable’ and accuses US of double standards
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has said he is ready to “pay a very heavy price” for resisting US attempts to dictate the country’s trade policies, as India took a defiant position in the wake of Trump’s punitive export tariffs.
In an executive order signed on Wednesday, Trump slapped India with an additional 25% tariff, in a move he described as punishment for continuing to purchase large quantities of Russian oil and “fuelling Russia’s war machine”. It came on top of a 25% tariff for Indian exports already announced by the US president.
India’s foreign ministry hit back almost instantly, calling the additional tariff “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” and accusing the US of double standards, as other countries also importing Russian oil have not faced the same punitive action.
In a speech on Wednesday night which did not directly mention Trump or the new tariffs, Modi appeared defiant as he addressed one of the biggest sticking points in India’s ongoing trade negotiations with the US over tariffs.
