Donald Trump threatens to 'substantially' raise tariffs on India over Russian oil purchase

"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," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

"Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA," he said without specifying what tariff level he had in mind.

His post comes days after his announcement that a 25 percent tariff would be imposed on goods imported from India.

He had also warned then that India would also face an unspecified penalty, but gave no details.

Trump had last week slammed India for buying military equipment from Russia. "I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World," he said in apost on Truth Social.

"Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!"

India, the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the US, historically bought most of its oil from the Middle East.

However, this changed following Russia's decision to sell its oil at discounted rates after the West shunned it as punishment for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

India purchases up to 2 million barrels per day of oil, accounting for 2 percent of global supply.

Last week, Trump declared that the US has a massive trade deficit with India, accusing it of having the "most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any country".

"While India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any country," he said.

Later in the day when he was asked about whether he was still open to a deal with India, the President had told reporters, "We are talking to them now. We will see what happens. India was the highest or just about the highest-tariff nation in the world...We will see. We are negotiating with India right now."