US President Donald Trump claimed he had no knowledge of America’s imports of uranium, fertilisers, and chemicals from Russia, after India had highlighted the trade as part of its pushback against Washington’s criticism of New Delhi’s energy ties with Moscow.
"I don't know anything about it. I'd have to check, but we'll get back to you on that," Trump said in response to a question highlighting India's statement on American imports of these commodities from Russia.
Diplomatic tensions between Washington and New Delhi escalated sharply last week after Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods, along with an unspecified penalty over India’s continued purchases of Russian oil.
While the dispute came to a head over trade, tensions had been simmering for some time, fuelled in part by Trump’s repeated claims that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following New Delhi’s Operation Sindoor, as well as the US growing closer to Islamabad in its aftermath.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump claimed that India "has not been a good trading partner" and threatened to raise tariffs on New Delhi “very substantially” within the next 24 hours, citing its continued purchase of Russian oil.
"India has not been a good trading partner, because they do a lot of business with us, but we don't do business with them. So we settled on 25% (tariff), but I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they're buying Russian oil. They're fuelling the war machine. And if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy," the US President told CNBC in an interview.
During the interview, he added that the main sticking point with India was that its tariffs were too high, but he did not provide a new tariff rate.
Trump's latest threat comes a day after India hit back at the US and the European Union for their "unjustified and unreasonable" targeting of New Delhi over its procurement of Russian crude oil.
Firmly rejecting the criticism, India pointed out the double standards in targeting it on the issue and said both the US and the EU are continuing their trade relations with Russia. "Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Monday night.
The Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy, but also fertilisers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel, and machinery and transport equipment, the MEA said.
"Where the US is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals... In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable," it added.
At an event Tuesday afternoon, where Trump signed an executive order establishing a White House Olympics Task Force to handle security and other issues related to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, he repeated again that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan, a claim he has made over 30 times since May 10.
India has consistently maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.
"I stopped five wars in the last five months," Trump said, adding that he would like the Ukraine conflict to be the sixth one he helps bring to an end.
"You just take a look at the ones just over the last two or three months, it's been amazing. This is the one I'm trying to stop. This is the one we're working hardest on," Trump said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
"The other ones I stopped within a matter of days, almost every one of them, including India and Pakistan. And I could go over the whole list, but you know the list as well as I do," he said.
Meanwhile, State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said it will be up to President Trump to decide how to respond to "those nations that are facilitating this war on Ukraine." She was asked about India's comment that New Delhi is not going to change its position on oil purchases from Russia.
"I will not characterise or remark on another nation's comments about what they will or will not do.... But I do know that, of course, President Trump understands the entire field, and he has made it very clear he doesn't like what's been happening," Bruce said.
To another question on India and China indicating they fully intend to continue purchasing Russian oil irrespective of US sanctions, Bruce said Washington is now talking about secondary sanctions, i.e., sanctioning a country, company, or others that might be doing business with a country that the US has sanctioned in this instance.