U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday imposing an extra 25 per cent tariff on goods from India, saying the country directly or not directly imported Russian oil, adding to 25 per cent tariffs already announced.
The move threatens to further complicate U.S.-Indian relations and comes shortly after a Indian government source said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit China for the primary time in over seven years later this month.
U.S.-India ties are facing their most serious crisis in years after talks with India failed to supply a trade agreement.
The White House move, first signaled by Trump on Monday, follows meetings by Trump’s top diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow geared toward pushing Russia to comply with peace in Ukraine.
Trump has threatened higher tariffs on Russia and secondary sanctions on its allies, if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t move to finish the war in Ukraine.
—Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Deepa Babington