India-Russia Oil Deal ‘Point Of Irritation’, Says US As Trump Slaps 25% Tariffs Plus Penalties

<p>US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in his recent statement, said that India&rsquo;s long purchase of oil from Russia has become a &ldquo;point of irritation” in Indo-US ties, even after the ongoing strategic ties both countries are having.</p>
<p>In his statement, he also said that India is an ally and a strategic partner, but with this purchase of Russian oil, Russia&rsquo;s war against Ukraine is also sustaining.</p>
<h2>&ldquo;India Is An Ally&rdquo;</h2>
<p>He said, &ldquo;Look, India is an ally. It&rsquo;s a strategic partner. Like anything in foreign policy, you&rsquo;re not going to align 100 per cent of the time on everything.&rdquo;</p>
<p>”India has huge energy needs, and that includes the ability to buy oil and coal and gas and things that it needs to power its economy, like every country does. And it buys it from Russia, because Russian oil is sanctioned and cheap, meaning they have to, in many cases, sell it under the global price because of their sanctions. Yep. And that, unfortunately, is helping to sustain the Russian war effort. So it is most certainly a point of irritation in our relationship with India,” he added.</p>
<h2>Trump Slaps Additional Penalty on India Over Russia Ties</h2>
<p>All these statements came a day after US President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on India and an additional penalty on Indian imports in the country. For this, Trump gave the reason for India-Russia trade ties. In one of his posts on Truth Social Trump said that the US has a massive trade deficit with India.</p>
<p>The remarks of Marco Rubio about the Russian oil dealing of India follow US President Trump&rsquo;s tariff announcement, which he made via his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday.</p>
<p>Trump stated that the US would impose a 25 per cent tariff, with an additional penalty, on Indian imports from August 1st.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>ALL THINGS NO GOOD!</h2>
<p>”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!” Trump posted.</p>
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<h2>Trump Criticizes India&rsquo;s Trade Practices</h2>
<p>He also criticized India for enforcing &ldquo;the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers&rdquo; in the world and claimed that the country imposes some of the highest tariffs globally.</p>
<p>President Trump said that, despite India being an ally, very limited trade has happened between the two nations over the years due to excessively high tariffs from the Indian side.</p>
<p>”At a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine, these things are not good. India has always bought the majority of its military supplies from Russia and is one of the largest buyers of Russian energy, along with China,” he added.</p>