The United States once again sought to shift blame for the Ukraine crisis onto India, with Washington defending its move to weaponise tariffs against New
Delhi. As US President Donald Trump's steep 50% tariff on Indian goods takes effect, White House trade advisor Peter Navarro went so far as to dub the Russia-Ukraine conflict "Modi's war". In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Navarro said, "I mean Modi's war because the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi." The White House advisor said that New Delhi could get "25 per cent off tomorrow" if it stops buying Russian oil and repeated Trump's claim that Moscow used money from New Delhi's 'discounted' crude purchase to "fund its war machine."
Peter Navarro told Bloomberg Television that "everybody in America loses because of what India is doing", remarking, "The consumers and businesses and everything lose, and workers lose because India's high tariffs cost us jobs, and factories, and income and higher wages. And then the taxpayers lose because we got to fund Modi's war."
"What's troubling to me is that the Indians are so arrogant about this. They say, 'Oh, we don't have higher tariffs. Oh, it's our sovereignty. We can buy oil from anyone we want...India, you're the biggest democracy in the world, OK, act like one," he added.
Also Read: 'Not About Ukraine At All': House Democrats Slam Trump for Singling Out India With Tariffs Over Russian Oil
Trump's 50 per cent tariffs kick in
Donald Trump's additional 25 per cent tariffs on Indian imports to the United States took effect on Wednesday, August 27. The US has claimed that the additional trade duties on India have been imposed for continuing to purchase Russian oil and defence equipment, as the Trump administration feels that this is funding Moscow's "war machine" to continue its onslaught against Ukraine.
The US Department of Homeland Security, in a draft order said the higher tariffs would apply to Indian products entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after 12:01 am Eastern Daylight Time on August 27. According to the notice, the additional duties are being imposed to give effect to the President's Executive Order 14329 of August 6, 2025, titled "Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of the Russian Federation."
Indian government sources have said that communication channels between India and the United States are open to resolve the tariff issue. They described the current phase as temporary in the long-term India-US relationship, noting that India's diversified export base could help mitigate the economic impact.
(With agency inputs)
