Will US cut down India tariff if Russia-Ukraine deal goes through? US President says ‘will determine’

US President Donald Trump refused to give a specific answer about whether additional tariffs on India would be dropped if a deal between Russia and Ukraine were reached.

Although he indicated it could happen, the US President was quoted by the Associated Press as saying during a press conference in the White House on Wednesday: “We’ll determine that later. But right now they’re paying a 50% tariff.”

Trump had earlier announced that the US will impose an additional 25% tariff on India because it continues to import Russian oil. The move raised tariffs on some Indian goods to as high as 50% — among the steepest faced by any US trading partner

Trump said on Wednesday that India is “very close” to China in terms of its purchases of Russian oil and will pay tariffs of 50 per cent.

“…. As you know, we put a 50-per cent tariff on India on oil. They are the second largest, they are very close to China in terms of the purchase of oil from Russia,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

He also threatened “secondary sanctions” on India. “It’s only been 8 hours. So let’s see what happens. You’re going to see a lot more…You’re going to see so much secondary sanctions,” Trump said.

He also hinted that the US administration could impose “more” similar sanctions on China.

On being asked, “On the Indian penalties, do you have any similar plans to enact more tariffs on China’, US President Donald Trump said, “Could happen. Depends on how we do. Could happen

The additional 25 per centtariffs on India would go into effect 21 days after the signing of the order, meaning that both India and Russia might have time to negotiate with the administration on the import taxes.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs [MEA] on Wednesday called the additional tariffs “unfortunate.”

“We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,” MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, adding that India would take all actions necessary to protect its interests.

Meanwhile, the White House said Wednesday that Trump could meet in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as next week as he seeks to broker an end to the war.