Trump Imposes 25% Tariff on India, Penalizes Russia Deals

• Trump Imposes 25% Tariff on India starting August 1, plus a penalty for energy and arms trade with Russia
• Cites High Trade Barriers and India’s continued business with Russia as key reasons
• No Trade Deal Yet, though talks with India are ongoing and may resume in late August

Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that India would receive a 25% tax, beginning on August 1, along with an additional cost for buying energy and arms from Russia. The new tax is slightly smaller than the 26% tax he announced on April 2 during his "Liberation Day" conference.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, "Remember, 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 added, "Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in ukraine — all things not good! India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25%, plus a penalty for the above, starting on august first. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Maga!"

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he would implement these reciprocal taxes for multiple countries, including India, on August 1, 2025, without any further delays.

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"So no extensions, no more grace periods. August 1, the tariffs are set. They'll go into place. Customs will start collecting the money, and off we go", he added.

Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed interest during Modi’s recent visit to the United States in a bilateral trade agreement but have not reached an interim deal. There have been five rounds of discussions, the next one will be the sixth and will occur in late August when a U.S. delegation visits India.

Trump had previously signaled that India could be subject to tariffs of 20-25% due to no trade agreement and ongoing negotiations. But Indian officials believe these may only be temporary tariffs since the two sides are still negotiating and want to finalize something by the fall.

He has previously been adamant about India opening its market to U.S. goods, but there are outstanding issues related to agriculture and dairy where India is not willing to ease restrictions and has dug in further on the last discussions, so the results of trade discussions will be an important factor in determining U.S.-India trade relations moving forward.