U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday stated he had reached a trade deal with India and that New Delhi agreed to cease buying Russian oil while increasing purchases from the United States and potentially Venezuela.
That statement comes against the backdrop of a sequence of tariff measures between Washington and New Delhi that moved from targeted duties to a 50% tariff on Indian exports to the United States. The following timeline records the steps in that escalation and a subsequent temporary pause.
Timeline of tariff actions
- April 2, 2025 - The United States imposed a 26% "reciprocal tariff" on a number of Indian imports under the president's global "liberation day" tariff actions.
- April 10, 2025 - The president paused the tariffs for 90 days and maintained a 10% duty on all U.S. imports.
- July 31, 2025 - The president announced a 25% tariff on all Indian goods and warned that a penalty would be applied if India continued to buy Russian oil.
- August 7, 2025 - The tariff on Indian goods was raised to 50% because of the country's continued purchase of Russian oil; the 50% rate was the highest applied by the United States to any of its trade partners.
The president’s remarks that India agreed to stop buying Russian oil and to increase purchases from the United States and potentially Venezuela were presented alongside the tariff history. The sequence shows an initial, more narrowly targeted duty, a temporary pause with a retained baseline duty, and subsequent increases that culminated in the 50% tariff level.
The record of actions includes the explicit linkage made by the U.S. administration between India’s energy purchases and the imposition of escalating tariffs on Indian goods shipped to the United States.
Details beyond the statements and the tariff chronology provided above were not included in the announcement.