Overview
Overview
On August 6, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) imposing an additional 25 percent tariff on imports from India in an effort to stop or curtail India’s direct or indirect importation of Russian-origin oil. The additional 25 percent tariff becomes effective on August 27. By taking this action and potentially expanding it to include other countries that directly or indirectly import Russian oil, President Trump is asserting U.S. sanctions authority to impose tariffs on India for certain of that country’s dealings with Russia. President Trump is reportedly using such sanctions as economic pressure on President Putin to reach a peace arrangement over the war in Ukraine.
Notably, this is not a property blocking action. EO 14066 of March 8, 2022, previously prohibited the importation into the United States of certain products of Russian origin, including crude oil, petroleum, and petroleum fuels, oils, and products of their distillation. However, based on the determination that such imports pose a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, President Trump asserted the authority to impose additional sanctions on related activities involving Russian oil.
Background
On July 31, 2025, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and other authorities, the Trump administration issued EO 14326 imposing reciprocal tariffs on 90 countries, including India, to address the “large and persistent” U.S. goods trade deficit as a national emergency. The tariffs became effective on August 7. The tariff rate imposed on India was 25 percent, which is significantly higher than the tariffs imposed on other countries. Despite several rounds of negotiations, India did not reach a trade deal with the United States by the August 1 deadline self-imposed by President Trump, which left the country susceptible to higher reciprocal tariffs than countries that did strike a deal with the United States by the deadline, such as Indonesia, Korea, Japan, and the EU.
The August 6 EO imposes an additional 25 percent tariff on India in response to its purchases of Russian oil, and becomes effective on August 27. This brings the total tariff rate on India to 50 percent, in addition to any other applicable duties, fees, taxes, exactions, and charges under separate U.S. authorities. Most notably, the President determined that it is appropriate to impose this additional duty on imports of all articles from India, unless excepted, because India is directly or indirectly importing Russian oil. This action serves as an extension of the sanctions imposed in EO 14066 to address the national emergency declared therein.
Why India
India is the world’s second largest importer of Russian oil after China. President Trump alleges that in addition to purchasing “massive amounts” of oil from Russia, India is selling it in the open market for “big profits.” The secondary tariffs are aimed at dissuading India from purchasing Russian oil and, in turn, hurting Russia’s economy and forcing President Putin to the negotiating table. Despite the pressure from the Trump administration, India has not shown any signs of decreasing or halting its oil imports from Russia. To the contrary, India has strongly condemned the additional 25 percent tariff imposed by the U.S. as “unjustified and unreasonable,” and stated that it will continue to purchase Russian oil to ensure affordable energy prices for Indian consumers.
This is not the first time that the Trump administration has imposed secondary tariffs on countries that purchase oil from a U.S. adversary in order to secure a foreign policy goal. On March 24, 2025, President Trump issued EO 14245 imposing 25 percent tariffs on countries that directly or indirectly imported Venezuelan oil. However, no countries that import Venezuelan oil have been subject to such secondary tariffs to date. Steptoe’s previous post on this matter can be accessed here.
Exceptions
The additional 25 percent tariff rate imposed on India does not apply to products included in Annex II to EO 14257, which includes products subject to Section 232 investigations, such as steel, aluminum, copper, autos and auto parts, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber, certain critical minerals, and energy products.
Looking Ahead
The Trump administration stated that it will determine whether other countries also directly or indirectly import Russian oil and take further action accordingly. India is the second largest importer of Russian oil after China. However, the Trump administration has not indicated whether it will extend secondary tariffs to China to target its imports of Russian oil. This seems unlikely, as the White House looks to extend trade talks with China past the August 12 deadline.
For more information on the above, please contact a member of our Trade Policy or Economic Sanctions teams.
