India has lashed out at the recent move by U.S. President Donald Trump to levy an additional 25% duty on Indian imports as "unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable."
The new tariffs, imposed officially by an executive order signed by Trump on Wednesday, follow India's ongoing oil commerce with Russia.
The White House billed the move as part of a wider crackdown on Moscow over its war activities in Ukraine.
India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) released a stern reaction to the announcement, reiterating its clear opposition. "We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests," an MEA spokesperson stated.
The statement underlined that the oil imports of India are economic necessities and national priorities. "We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India," the spokesman added.
India also lamented that the U.S. singled it out when other countries are conducting the same trade practice. "It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest," the official statement read.
President Trump, in the executive order, mentioned that India's continued buying of oil from Russia, direct or indirect, is a risk to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. "Accordingly, and as consistent with applicable law, articles of India imported into the customs territory of the United States shall be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 per cent," the order mentions.
The higher tariffs will become effective 21 days from the day the order was signed. However, items already in transit before the deadline and processed by U.S. customs prior to September 17 will be exempt from the added duties.
