- US President Trump claimed ignorance of US-Russia uranium and fertiliser trade amid tariff threats to India
- Since 2022, the US imported $24.51bn of Russian goods, including $1.27bn in fertilisers in 2024 alone
- Trump threatened substantial tariff increases on countries buying Russian energy but gave no specific rates
Amid the United States' tariff threats to India over Russian oil imports, US President Donald Trump has claimed he was unaware of Washington's uranium and fertiliser trade with Moscow-- a point New Delhi has highlighted while defending its Russian imports. He also indicated increasing duties on nations continuing their trade relationship with Moscow, but did not disclose any number for the same.
"I don't know anything about it. I have to check it out," Trump said on India's claim that Washington was singling it out unfairly while continuing to do business with Moscow itself.
The remarks were made during a press conference at the White House, originally called to discuss the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
US-Russia Trade
Three years after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States still import billions of dollars worth of Russian energy and commodities, including enriched uranium. Since January 2022, the US has imported $24.51 billion of Russian goods. In 2024 alone, Washington imported fertilisers worth $1.27 billion, uranium and plutonium worth $624 million and palladium worth around $878 million from Moscow.
More Tariffs Incoming
When asked about his threat of imposing a 100 per cent tariff on countries buying Russian energy, Trump said, "I never said a percentage, but we'll be doing quite a bit of that. We'll see what happens over the next fairly short period of time... We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We're going to see what happens..."
India this week lashed out at what it called Western double standards, after facing renewed threats from Trump over its surging purchases of Russian crude oil.
Mounting Criticism
Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley took a dig at Trump on Tuesday for his announcements about substantially hiking tariffs over oil imports from Russia, saying he had given "China a pass" and cautioned him against burning "a relationship with a strong ally like India".
Haley said in a post on X that China is an adversary of the United States and "number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil," has been given a 90-day tariff pause by the Trump Administration.
"India should not be buying oil from Russia. But China, an adversary and the number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil, got a 90-day tariff pause. Don't give China a pass and burn a relationship with a strong ally like India," she said.
Trump's Mounting Threat
Trump on Tuesday said he would increase the tariff charged on imports from India from the current rate of 25 per cent "very substantially" over the next 24 hours due to New Delhi'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.
According to the report, he added that the main sticking point with India was that its tariffs were too high, but did not provide a new tariff rate.
