India has not been a good trading partner, says Donald Trump

India has not been a good trading partner, said US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, adding that he would increase the tariff charged on imports from India from the current rate of 25% "very substantially" over the next 24 hours, given India's continued purchases of Russian oil.

"They're fueling the war machine, and if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy," Trump told CNBC in an interview. He said that the main sticking point with India was that its tariffs were too high.

This comes a day after Trump stated that he will "substantially" raise US tariffs on India, accusing it of buying massive amounts of Russian oil and selling it for big profits.


India has sharply criticised the United States and the European Union, saying it is being unfairly singled out by them over its Russian oil purchases when they both trade extensively with Moscow despite the war in Ukraine.

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In a rare show of unity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Congress on Tuesday condemned Trump's repeated criticism of New Delhi.

India's Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued late on Monday that "it is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia".

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"It is unjustified to single out India," the ministry said. It said the EU conducted 67.5 billion euros ($78.02 billion) in trade with Russia in 2024, including record imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reaching 16.5 million metric tons.

The United States, the statement said, continues to import Russian uranium hexafluoride for use in its nuclear power industry, palladium, fertilisers and chemicals. It did not give a source for the export information.

Sudden Rift

The sudden rift between India and the U.S. has been deepening since July 31, when Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods being shipped to the U.S. and for the first time threatened unspecified penalties for buying Russian oil.

India is one of the biggest buyers of crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million barrels per day from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago.

Indian refiner Nayara Energy, a major buyer of Russian oil which is majority owned by Russian entities including oil major Rosneft, was subjected to European Union sanctions targeting Russia's oil and energy industry in July.

India has said it does not support "unilateral sanctions" by the EU.

Trade experts say Trump's tariff could badly hurt India's economy.

Ajay Srivastava of the New Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative said he expected Indian goods exports to the U.S. to fall 30% in the current fiscal year ending March 31, to $60.6 billion from $86.5 billion in the 2025 fiscal year.