Kamal Ghorui
US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order revoking the additional 25 per cent tariff imposed on all imports from India over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, the White House said.The move comes days after India and the United States finalised a long-pending trade deal, following nearly a year of trade tensions between the two countries.In the past, Trump had repeatedly accused India of helping Moscow by continuing to buy Russian oil, saying it indirectly supported Russia’s military actions against Ukraine.Earlier this week, Trump announced a trade agreement with India under which US tariffs on Indian goods were cut to 18 per cent from 50 per cent. In return, India agreed to halt purchases of Russian oil and lower several trade barriers.A White House official had earlier told Reuters that the US was withdrawing the punitive 25 per cent duty imposed specifically over India’s Russian oil imports. This duty had been added on top of a 25 per cent “reciprocal” tariff.India has been a major buyer of Russian oil, meeting around 90 per cent of its import needs through long-term arrangements. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and Western countries imposed sanctions on its energy exports, India’s purchase of cheaper Russian oil helped reduce its overall import costs.However, India has recently started cutting back on these purchases. According to a Reuters report, imports from Russia stood at about 1.2 million barrels per day in January and are expected to fall to around 1 million barrels per day in February and about 800,000 barrels per day in March.
