President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that United States will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from India starting on Aug. 1.
Trump said India will also face an unspecified penalty on Aug. 1, but he did elaborate on the amount or what it was for.
“While India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!”
India’s commerce ministry, which is leading the trade negotiations with the United States, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s decision dashes hopes of a limited trade agreement between the two countries, which had been under negotiation for several months.
U.S. and Indian trade negotiators had held multiple rounds of discussions to resolve contentious issues, particularly over market access for American agricultural and dairy products.
