Donald Trump announces tariffs: How much oil, weapons does India buy from Russia?

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that his country will impose a 25 per cent tariff on India from August 1, for continually buying Russian oil and weapons. He said that the countrywill also impose an additional penalty on New Delhi over the trade deficit.

"They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE - ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST 1st. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!", the US President said on Truth Social.

How much oil and weapons does India buy from Russia?

India has been buying Russian energy products at discounted prices since the West stopped its energy purchases over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. In June, despite West's discomfort, India ramped uppurchases of Russian oil.

Indian refiners are likely to import 2-2.2 million barrels per day of Russian crude oil in June, the highest in the last two years and more than the total volumes bought from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, PTI reported, citingglobal trade analytics firm Kpler.

In May, India imported1.96 million barrels per day (bpd). India's oil imports from the United States also rose to439,000 bpd, a massive jump from 280,000 bpd purchased in the previous month.

India is the world's third-largest oil-importing and consuming nation. It used to import most of its oil from the Middle East. It started purchasing Russian oil in February 2022 because itwas available at a significant discount. India's Russian energy imports shot up suddenly, growing from less than 1 per cent of its total crude imports to a staggering 40-44 per cent.

The West has expressed displeasure with India's reliance on Russian oil, alleging that New Delhi had been funding Moscow's war against Ukraine. India says it has been doing what's best for its people.

In June, Russia's share of Indian oil imports was over 35 per cent.

Russia's weapons imports

Russia has been a traditional strategic ally for India since its Independence. According to a Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report, Moscow remains the biggest arms supplier of equipment and systems for the Indian Armed Forces.

India was also the world’s second-largest arms importer in 2020–24 with an 8.3 per cent share of global imports. India bought 36 per cent of its weapons imports from Moscow. The SIPRI report, however, said that of late, New Delhi has been shifting its arms supply relations towards Western suppliers. India has also started indigenous manufacturingof weapons.

"Despite recent public declarations from the two sides that relations between India and Russia remain friendly, the shift is also visible in India’s new and planned orders for major arms, most of which will come from Western suppliers," it said in the March report.