MR. Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th US President had announced his "reciprocal tariffs" on several countries, big or small, friend or foe alike on the so-called Liberation Day- 2nd April, 2025. According to the calculation then made, India was to be graced with a 25% tariff. There were other countries in the list that were to suffer higher rates with the pride of the highest such tariff being reserved for - not China but Cambodia at 49%. USA's per capita GDP being one of the highest in the world at more than 80,000 USD, the purchasing power of the USA makes it the biggest market in the world to which every country exports simply because there is a demand for almost every product in the USA.

Although already adumbrated in his election speeches, the actual move by President Trump on April 2, 2025 was so unusual to a world now used to the idea of free trade that was actively promoted and practiced by the USA itself, that most of the countries, including USA's western allies took time to digest the news. Some made noises about retaliatory tariffs of their own. Mr. Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary, however, urged the affected countries not to retaliate but negotiate deals with the USA on a bilateral basis.

Subsequently, a reprieve was announced for 90 days and the new deadline was now in July, 2025.

India was already working on a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with the USA for some time and in the initial days of the new tariff regime, Mr. Trump as also his officials repeatedly announced that perhaps the first deal under the new dispensation would be concluded with India. In the event, the first deal was concluded with the country claiming special relationship with the USA i.e., the UK signed on the 80th anniversary of the Allied Victory, the 8th of May, 2025. According to Mr. Trump:

"The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers."

"The UK will reduce or eliminate numerous non-tariff barriers that unfairly discriminated against American products."ⁱ

In between, Mr. Trump was also solving problems all over the world including the intractable Russo-Ukraine war, the Israel-Palestine conflict and many more. Towards that end, on the 28th of February, Mr. Trump had a meeting with President Zelensky of Ukraine and the world watched in horror the Head of a country being publicly berated, an official lunch cancelled and Mr. Zelensky being virtually thrown out of the White House. Another leader at the receiving end of Mr. Trump and his team at the White House was Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa who was accused of genocide of white South African farmers.

Having watched such humiliating incidents, Export-oriented countries heavily dependent on the access to the US market rushed to pacify Mr. Trump with promises of investment in the USA and often, unilateral free access to their markets in return for a favorable rate on their goods export to the USA. Some of such important actors were Japan ⁱⁱ, the EU and Vietnam. The latest in the line is the President of South Korea who is in Washington as I write this piece. Just before the meeting, Mr. Trump posted in Truth Social about the alleged attacks on Churches in South Korea.

As for India, as luck would have it, the Pahalgam terrorist attack on innocent civilians took place on 22nd April, 2025 and public opinion in India was so incensed that India was forced to launch its Operation Sindoor on the 7th of May, 2025 destroying terrorist bases in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and even inside Pakistan. Initially, India desisted from attacking military targets. However, Pakistan retaliated by launching missiles and drones on the border towns and villages. In the second phase, India struck the military bases and launching pads in Pakistan inflicting heavy damages to the targets. The happening thereafter is what is interesting. Apparently, the US Vice President J.D. Vance spoke with the Prime Minister and Secretary of State Marco Rubio called his counterpart. The DGMO Pakistan called his counterpart in India and a ceasefire was announced on the 10th May 2025, a Saturday. Then on the 11th of May at 9: 28 IST Mr. Trump posted on his Truth Social :

Donald J. Trump

@realDonald Trump

"I am very proud of the strong and unwaveringly powerful leadership of India and Pakistan for having the strength, wisdom and fortitude to fully know and understand that it was time to stop the current aggression that could have lead to the death and destruction of so many, and so much. Millions of good and innocent people could have died! Your legacy is greatly enhanced by your brave actions. I am proud that the USA was able to help you arrive at this historic and heroic decision. While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade , substantially, with both of these great Nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a "thousand years" a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir. God Bless the leadership of India and Pakistan on a job well done!!! ⁱⁱⁱ

As reported by The Hindu, on the 12h of May, 2025, Mr. Trump repeated his claim of solving the India- Pakistan conflict:

"I said [to the Indian and Pakistani leadership], let's stop it. If you stop it, we're doing trade. If you don't stop it we're not going to do any trade," Mr. Trump told reporters at The White House on Monday (May 12, 2025) repeating some of the claims he had made over the weekend in social media posts, and added that trade was the "big" reason the two sides reached an understanding to stop military action against each other. He added that the U.S. is "negotiating with India" at present, disclosing for the first time that the U.S. planned to start negotiating on trade with Pakistan as well.

Mr. Trump also said that U.S. officials had "stopped the nuclear conflict" between India and Pakistan. "I think it would have it could have been a bad nuclear war. Millions of people could have been killed, so I'm very proud of that," the U.S. President said in his comments. ^iv In effect Mr Trump's claim was that he prevented a conflict taking serious turn by using trade as an instrument of state policy.

Mr Trump's post and repeated claims caused consternation amongst the ruling dispensation in India and after some time, the Ministry of External Affairs clarified that the cease fire with Pakistan was arrived at bilateral level and no third party was involved. ^v Seizing the occasion, Pakistan, however, formally nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize on 23rd June for Mr Trump's "decisive diplomatic intervention" in the Indo-Pak conflict. ^vi

Mr Trump continued with his claim of solving the India-Pakistan conflict in every meeting he had with diverse world leaders who kept coming in droves to the White House. He, of course took credit for solving other intractable conflicts also elsewhere- DRC- Rwanda, Armenia- Azerbaijan, Thailand- Cambodia border dispute, Kosovo- Serbia dispute, Israel-Palestine etc. It is always entertaining to watch these Press conferences where Mr Trump keeps repeating that he has solved 5-6-7 conflicts but he always begins with the claim of resolving the India-Pakistan conflict. The tally went up to 10 in one of his press conferences although I do not now remember which one it was. The Nobel Prize for Peace beckons.

Now, coming back to his reciprocal tariffs, Mr. Trump in several press conferences announced that a trade deal with India was imminent and it was perhaps going to be the first country to sign a deal. As we have noted earlier, that did not happen and negotiations floundered apparently on the issue of access to India's domestic agricultural sector including on sale of genetically modified products. Although the Indian delegation returned, negotiations continue.

Then on the 31st of July, Mr. Trump took stock of the negotiations with different parties and issued a fresh Executive order wherein he mentioned:

"I have received additional information and recommendations from various senior officials on, among other things, thecontinued lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships and the impact of foreign trading partners' disparate tariff rates and non-tariff barriers on U.S. exports, the domestic manufacturing base, critical supply chains, and the defense industrial base. I also have received additional information and recommendations on foreign relations, economic, and national security matters, including the status of trade negotiations, efforts to retaliate against the United States for its actions to address the emergency declared in Executive Order 14257, and efforts to align with the United States on economic and national security matters. For example, some trading partners have agreed to, or are on the verge of agreeing to, meaningful trade and security commitments with the United States , thus signaling their sincere intentions to permanently remedy the trade barriers that have contributed to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14257, and to align with the United States on economic and national security matters. Other trading partners, despite having engaged in negotiations, have offered terms that, in my judgment, do not sufficiently address imbalances in our trading relationship or have failed to align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national-security matters." ^vii

After considering the information and recommendations that I have recently received, among other things, I have determined that it is necessary and appropriate to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14257 by imposing additional ad valorem duties on goods of certain trading partners at the rates set forth in Annex I to this order, subject to all applicable exceptions set forth in Executive Order 14257, as amended, in lieu of the additional ad valorem duties previously imposed on goods of such trading partners in Executive Order 14257, as amended."

The Annex-1 rate was modified for some countries - For the UK, it was 10%, Vietnam 20%, South Africa- 30%, Pakistan 19%, Indonesia-19% Japan 15%. India in this list continued with 25%.

Then, on the 6th of August 2025 came the most controversial Executive order imposing additional punitive tariff on India @ 25%. For the moment, India alone has been selected for this honour. Since it has serious legal consequences, it will be important to reproduce the said order:

"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50U.S.C. 1701 et seq. ) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. ), section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby determine and order:

Section 1. Background. Executive Order 14066 of March 8, 2022 (Prohibiting Certain Imports and New Investments With Respect to Continued Russian Federation Efforts To Undermine the Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Ukraine ), expanded the scope of the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14024 of April 15, 2021 (Blocking Property With Respect To Specified Harmful Foreign Activities of the Government of the Russian Federation), to include the actions taken against Ukraine by the Government of the Russian Federation. To address that unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, Executive Order 14066 prohibited, among other things, the importation into the United States of certain products of Russian Federation origin, including crude oil; petroleum; and petroleum fuels, oils, and products of their distillation.

I have received additional information from various senior officials on, among other things, the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to the situation in Ukraine. After considering this additional information, among other things, I find that the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066 continues and that the actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation continue to pose 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 additionalad valoremduty on imports of articles of India, which is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil . In my judgment, imposing tariffs, as described below, in addition to maintaining the other measures taken to address the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066, will more effectively deal with the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066.

Sec . 2 . Imposition of Tariffs. (a) I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil.

(b) Accordingly, and 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 percent. Subject to section 3 of this order, this rate of duty shall be effective with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time 21 days after the date of this order , except for goods that (1) were loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading and in transit on the final mode of transit prior to entry into the United States before 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time 21 days after the date of this order; and (2) are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, before 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 17, 2025.

Sec. 3. Scope of Duties and Stacking. (a) The ad valorem duty imposed in section 2 of this order shall be in addition to any other duties, fees, taxes, exactions, and charges applicable to such imports, unless subject to existing or future actions under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, in which case thead valoremduty imposed in this order shall not apply .

(b) Thead valoremduty imposed in section 2 of this order shall not apply to articles that are excepted by 50 U.S.C. 1702(b).

(c) The ad valorem duty imposed in section 2 of this order shall not apply to articles that are set forth in Annex II to Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025 (…)

(d) The ad valorem duty imposed in Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025, as amended, shall apply in addition to the ad valorem duty imposed in section 2 of this order, when applicable pursuant to the terms of Executive Order 14257.

(e) Except for those articles that are eligible for admission under "domestic status" as defined in 19 CFR 146.43, articles that are subject to the duty imposed in section 2 of this order and areadmitted into a foreign trade zone on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time 21 days after the date of this order mustbe admitted as "privileged foreign status" as defined in19CFR 146.41.

Sec . 4. Modification Authority . (a) To ensure that the emergency described in section 1 of this order is dealt with, I may modify this order, including in light of additional information, recommendations from senior officials, or changed circumstances.

(b) Should a foreign country retaliate against the United States in response to this action, I may modify this order to ensure the efficacy of the actions herein ordered.

(c) Should the Government of the Russian Federation or a foreign country impacted by this order take significant steps to address the national emergency described in section 1 of this order and align sufficiently with the United States on national security, foreign policy, and economic matters, I may further modify this order.

Sec . 5 . Monitoring and Recommendations . (a) The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and any other senior official the Secretary of Commerce deems appropriate, shall determine whether any other country is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil. If the Secretary of Commerce finds that a country is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the United States Trade Representative, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and the Assistant to the President and Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing, shall recommend whether and to what extent I should take action as to that country, including whether I should impose an additionalad valoremrate of duty of 25 percent on imports of articles of that country .

(b) The Secretary of State shall monitor and regularly consult with any senior official the Secretary of State deems appropriate on the emergency described in section 1 of this order.

(c) The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the United States Trade Representative, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and the Assistant to the President and Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing, shall recommend to me additional action, if necessary, if the actions in this order are not effective in resolving the emergency described in section 1 of this order or should the Government of the Russian Federation or another foreign country retaliate against the United States in response to the actions taken in this order or any subsequent order issued to address the emergency described in section 1 of this order.

Sec. 6 . Delegation . (...)

Sec. 7 . Definitions . For the purposes of this order:

(a) The term "Russian Federation oil" means crude oil or petroleum products extracted, refined, or exported from the Russian Federation, regardless of the nationality of the entity involved in the production or sale of such crude oil or petroleum products .

(b) The term "indirectly importing" includes purchasing Russian Federation oil through intermediaries or third countries where the origin of the oil can reasonably be traced to Russia, as determined by the Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury.

Sec. 8 . Severability . (…)

Sec. 9 . General Provisions . (….)

DONALD J. TRUMP., THE WHITE HOUSE, August 6, 2025."

Before considering the justification given by Mr. Trump's minions, it is important to note that this order derives its authority from the Executive Order 14066 of March 8, 2022. Strangely, this order is Mr. Biden's order. Mr. Trump has on numerous occasions mentioned that the Russia-Ukraine order is Biden's war and it was not Trump's war and that the war would not have happened had he been in the White House. So, let us see what that Executive Order said:

Executive Order 14066 - Prohibiting Certain Imports and New Investments With Respect to Continued Russian Federation Efforts To Undermine the Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Ukraine March 8, 2022 ^viii

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America, hereby expand the scope of the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14024 of April 15, 2021, and relied on for additional steps taken in Executive Order 14039 of August 20, 2021, finding that the Russian Federation's unjustified, unprovoked, unyielding, and unconscionable war against Ukraine, including its recent further invasion in violation of international law, including the United Nations Charter, further threatens the peace, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and thereby constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States . Accordingly, I hereby order:

Section 1. (a) The following are prohibited:

(i) the importation into the United States of the following products of Russian Federation origin: crude oil; petroleum; petroleum fuels, oils, and products of their distillation; liquefied natural gas; coal; and coal products;

(ii) new investment in the energy sector in the Russian Federation by a United States person, wherever located; and

(iii) any approval, financing, facilitation, or guarantee by a United States person , wherever located, of a transaction by a foreign person where the transaction by that foreign person would be prohibited by this section if performed by a United States person or within the United States. (b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or license or permit granted prior to the date of this order.

Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(…)

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR, The White House, March 8, 2022

According to a CNBC article, "In New Delhi, there must be "confusion," Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group and former White House energy advisor to former President George W. Bush , told CNBC.

"Joe Biden went to India after the invasion of Ukraine and begged them to take Russian oil, the Indians hardly imported any Russian oil , and they begged India, ‘please take the oil, ' so that crude prices would remain low, and they did. Now we're flipping around and saying, ‘why are you taking all this oil,'" McNally added" ^ix

Enter Peter Navarro to defend the action:

Peter Navarro, the China hawk and currently the Senior counselor to the President and largely credited with devising his trade policy was the person who came to brief the Press on August 6. A part of the conversation went as follows:

Navarro- "Let's talk first about the India tariffs which went up to 50% today . It's important to understand that the rationale for the India tariffs are very different from the reciprocal tariffs.

This was a pure national security issue associated with India's abject refusal uh to stop buying Russia oil and the math of this every American needs to understand because it it's related to the trade situation.

You start with the fact that India is the maharaja of tariffs . It's the highest tariffs in the world charging on American products and it's got high non-tariff barriers so we can't get our products in. So we send a lot of dollars overseas to India to buy their products in an unfair trade environment. India then uses American dollars to buy Russian oil. Russia then uses those American dollars that come from India to finance its armaments to kill Ukrainians. And then American taxpayers are then called upon to pay for the weapons that have to defend Ukraine against Russian armaments paid for by American dollars that came from India. That's got to stop. That math doesn't work. The President understands the connection uh between economic security and national security . So that was the bottom line there."

He then tried to talk about the so-called Russia hoax for which he was jailed for not appearing before a committee. But he did not go unchallenged.

Kaitlan Collins of (CNN)

Can I ask you about the India tariffs first before you do that ?

Navarro : Yeah sure.

Kaitlan : On that front, if that's the rationale, China buys more Russian oil than India does and they have not been targeted for that. So why is India having its tariffs ?

Navarro -As the boss says, let's see what happens. Keep in mind that we have over 50% tariffs on China already.

Kaitlan- Right. But they haven't been punished for buying Russian oil. India ( unclear)

Navarro: We have we have over 50% tariffs China. So we don't want to get to a point where we actually hurt ourselves. Okay.

(…). So, I take your point. President certainly uh will be working with China on that issue. Okay.

Another reporter : And just on that as well, the president mentioned the money that India makes selling those oil products on the international market. Australia where I'm from buys you know a fair bit from India. Does the administration got its eye on countries that are then buying.

Navarro : We're looking at that all this it's got to stop. I mean again think about what I just told you. It's like American dollars buy Indian products and that sets in motion where those dollars finance a war which then requires American taxpayers to pay for defending against the Russian armaments. So, it just it that kind of trade doesn't work. Okay, that's that just doesn't work.

[Source: From the transcripts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmYueD5iV10]

Thereafter, Navarro wrote an op-ed for Financial Times wherein, he more or less repeated the same arguments. The title was more provocative-

"India's oil lobby is funding Putin's was machine- that has to stop"

Its dependence on Russian crude undermines the effort to isolate Moscow- August 18. 2025.

In this article Navarro basically repeats his so called- math- India sells to US to get dollars which it then spends on buying Russian oil. But here are some of the insulting bits where he accuses India of profiteering. In this connection he emphasizes the fact that India used to buy very little oil from Russia before the war and now buys almost 30% of its total oil imports from Russia.

"Importantly, before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russian oil made up less than 1 per cent of India's crude imports. Since then, daily imports have soared to more than 1.5mn barrels — more than 30 per cent of India's total.

To be clear, this surge has not been driven by domestic oil consumption needs. Rather, what really drives this trade is profiteering by India's Big Oil lobby. Refining companies have turned India into a massive refining hub for discounted Russian crude.

The refiners buy oil at a steep discount, process it, and then export refined fuels to Europe, Africa, and Asia — all the while shielding India from sanctions scrutiny under the pretence of neutrality.

The refining trade is large — India exports more than a million barrels per day in refined petroleum products, equivalent to over half the volume of crude it imports from Russia. The proceeds flow to India's politically connected energy titans, and in turn, into Vladimir Putin's war chest."

He also brought up India's military purchase from Russia.

"Meanwhile, India continues to rely heavily on Russian military hardware, with Russia supplying roughly 36 per cent of India's total arms imports between 2020 and 2024. While India has increasingly turned to the US, France and Israel to meet its defence needs, those deals often come with strings attached.

For example, India has routinely demanded that US companies transfer sensitive military technology and build factories on Indian soil as a condition of sale. That blunts any benefit to reducing America's trade balance while it also risks transferring cutting-edge US military capabilities to an India now cozying up to both Russia and China."

Then having bad-mouthed Biden administration, he postulates that the new national security tariff of 25% along with the reciprocal tariff of 25% announced in April will put India in its place.

"This two-pronged policy will hit India where it hurts - its access to US markets — even as it seeks to cut off the financial lifeline it has extended to Russia's war effort. If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one."

In this piece or in his interviews, this maverick never mentions that it was the United States that had begged India to buy Russian oil which by his own admission was only 1% of India's total imports before the G-7 imposed a price cap on the Russian oil sales which was intended to keep the world oil market stabilised and not let the crude price to explode. India already had a thriving refining capacity. Crude oil cannot be used for any purpose without refining. To follow his logic, India should have none of that and should never aspire to domestically produce arms and ammunitions and be perpetually dependent on the USA and its allies for all its needs and once again become a colony to be exploited. How absurd!

__________________________________________

i Fact Sheet : U.S- UK Reach Historic Trade deal - https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/05/fact-sheet-u-s-uk-reach-historic-trade-deal/

ii https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/07/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-secures-unprecedented-u-s-japan-strategic-trade-and-investment-agreement/

iii https://www.facebook.com/brutindia/posts/us-president-donald-trump-said-on-his-truth-social-handle-on-may-11/1007141861597957/

iv https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/trump-claims-his-administration-stopped-nuclear-conflict-between-india-and-pakistan/article69568339.ece

v https://www.mea.gov.in/media-briefings.htm?dtl/39495/Transcript_of_Weekly_Media_Briefing_by_the_Official_Spokesperson_May_13_2025

vi https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/21/asia/pakistan-trump-nobel-peace-prize-nomination-intl

vii https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/further-modifying-the-reciprocal-tariff-rates/

viii https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202200148/pdf/DCPD-202200148.pdf

ix Why India is in Trump's crosshairs when crude is not even sanctioned - https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/06/why-india-is-in-trumps-crosshairs-when-crude-is-not-even-sanctioned.html