At 50 per cent, India and its ally Brazil top the list of countries hit by tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump in his latest executive order on the subject. For India, which has emerged as one of the US’ most important strategic partners in the Indian Ocean Region, this includes a 25 per cent additional levy as penalty for importing oil from Russia, with which India has deep historical ties.
In his order of August 6, titled “Addressing Threats to the US by the Russian Federation”, Trump has invoked his constitutional powers to claim that Russia and Russian products posed an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”.
“To deal with the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066, I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to impose an additional ad valorem duty on imports of articles of India, which is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,” the order states.
Executive Order 14066, issued in March 2022, pertains to prohibiting certain imports and new investments with respect to continued Russian federation efforts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The order of August 6 has an annexure that contains a list of 70 countries and the tariffs applicable to them. Countries not mentioned in the list attract a baseline tariff of 10 per cent. Noticeably, India is the only country mentioned in the test of the order.
As consistent with applicable law, articles of India imported into the customs territory of the United States shall be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 per cent, it states. The ad valorem (according to value) duty is in addition to any other duties, fees, taxes, exactions and charges applicable to such imports except those exempted.
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