Trump says he’s unaware of US imports from Russia; Nikki Haley warns against India tariffs
Trump says he doesn't know about US importing uranium and fertilisers from Russia; Haley says 'don't give China a pass and burn a relationship with a strong ally like India'
US President Donald Trump, in response to a query at a press conference on Tuesday (August 5), said he was unaware that the US imports uranium and fertilisers from Russia, something that India has highlighted as Western double standards while defending its oil imports from Russia.
“I don’t know anything about it, I have to check it out,” said Trump when questioned about India’s statement that the US was singling it out unfairly while continuing to trade with Russia itself.
US imports from Russia
The records show that the US has continued to import commodities worth billions of dollars from Russia even three years after the latter invaded Ukraine.
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The US has imported $24.51 billion of Russian goods since January 2022, including fertilisers worth $1.27 billion, palladium worth $878 million, and plutonium and uranium worth $624 million in the year 2024 alone.
‘Double standards’
India’s Ministry of External Affairs had earlier this week accused the United States and the European Union (EU) of hypocrisy and double standards for threatening to sanction India for buying oil from Russia while they themselves continued to import from Russia long after it started the war with Ukraine.
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The MEA called the criticism “unjustified and unreasonable”, and said India’s purchase of oil from Russia is dictated by “economic necessity”.
Threat of higher tariffs
When Trump was asked whether he would impose 100 per cent tariffs on nations that continue to buy energy from Russia, including China, he gave an evasive answer.
“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,” he said.
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Trump said the goal of the talks will be to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and that the decision whether or not to impose tariffs on Russia and its trading partners will depend on the negotiations in Moscow on Wednesday (August 6) by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Nikki Haley criticises Trump
US’ former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley criticised President Trump on Tuesday for his threat to hike tariffs on India for buying oil from Russia, saying he had “given China a pass”.
Haley cautioned the American president against burning a relationship with a “strong ally like India”.
Also Read: Have India's Russian crude imports endured amid Trump tariff tantrums?
“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,” said Nikki Haley.