US Tariffs of 50% Taxes on India, ‘Tit for Tat’ move for buying oil from Russia

28-Aug-2025

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The United States imposed 50% Tariff on India a few days back and this comes into effect from August 28. 

Now on the backdrop of this Tariff war between India and US the White House trade adviser Peter Navarro accused India of helping finance Russia’s war in Ukraine through continued oil imports and called the conflict as “Modi’s war.”  

Linking the Russian war and 50% Tariff on India, Peter Navarro said on August 27 that India by buying discounted Russian crude oil directly strengthens Moscow’s war against Ukraine. 

He said, “By purchasing Russian oil at a discount, Russia uses the money it gets to fund its war machine,” he said. 

“And as a result of this everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. The consumers and businesses and everything lose, and workers lose because India’s high tariffs cost us jobs, and factories, and income and higher wages. And then the taxpayers lose because we got to fund Modi’s war,” Navarro said. 

Navarro accused India of helping finance Russia’s war in Ukraine by buying oil continuously from Russia and described the conflict as Modi’s war.  "I say Modi’s war because the road to peace runs, one way, through New Delhi,”. 

Navarro said, “What’s troubling to me is that the Indians are so arrogant about this. They say, ‘Oh, we don’t have higher tariffs. Oh, it’s our sovereignty. We can buy oil from any one we want.’”

Navarrod added, India, you’re the biggest democracy in the world, OK, act like one’’. 

India has a chance of Tariffs being reduced by 25% tomorrow if it stops buying Russian oil. “It’s real easy”, Navarro, White House trade adviser said. 

Since 2017 India has been buying crude oil from the United States.

India is the world’s biggest buyer of Russian seaborne crude oil.