US lifts 25% penalty tariff on India over Russian oil imports, Trump signs an executive order | India News

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday lifting an additional 25 percent tariff on all imports from India in response to New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil, the White House said.

According to the decree signed by Trump, “India undertakes to stop importing, directly or indirectly, Russian Federation oil.”

“New Delhi has also said it will purchase US energy products and has recently committed to a framework to expand defense cooperation with the US over the next 10 years,” the order said.

The White House said the decision came after reviewing additional information and recommendations from senior US officials regarding India’s recent measures to address the national emergency declared under an executive order.

The administration also noted that India agreed to halt both direct and indirect imports of Russian oil, committed to purchasing U.S. energy products, and created a framework with Washington to enhance defense cooperation over the next decade.

The additional 25% US tariff will be lifted at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday.

The decision comes after the recent signing of the long-awaited trade deal between India and the US after almost a year of trade-related frictions.

Earlier this week, Trump announced a trade deal with India that reduces U.S. tariffs on Indian products from 25% to 18%. In return, India agreed to stop buying Russian oil and ease various trade restrictions.

The implementation of this discount has not yet come into force.

Other provisions of the agreement include eliminating tariffs on selected aircraft and related components, according to a separate joint statement released by the White House on Friday.

The statement also stated that India plans to purchase $500 billion worth of US energy products, aircraft and parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal over the next five years.

The change represents a significant cut in US tariffs on Indian goods, which stood at 50% late last year.

Previously, Trump had accused India of helping Moscow by constantly purchasing oil from Russia and claimed that this indirectly supported Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.

India has been a major buyer of Russian crude oil and meets almost 90% of its oil import requirements through long-term supply agreements.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent Western sanctions on energy exports, India saw the benefit of buying Russian oil at a discount, which helped reduce its overall import bill.

However, India has recently started reducing these purchases. Imports from Russia were about 1.2 million barrels per day in January and are expected to fall to about 1 million barrels per day in February and to about 800,000 barrels per day in March, a Reuters report said.