US President Donald Trump has lifted punitive tariffs on India that he had imposed to indirectly weaken trade in Russian oil, DPA reported.
According to an executive order signed by Trump on Friday (local time), the 25 percent tariff imposed in August on goods imported from India to the US will not be collected from today.
Trump justified the lifting by saying that the world's most populous country had taken steps to stop importing Russian oil. He also said that India had committed to buying energy products from the US. The Indian government has not yet issued an official confirmation of the suspension of oil imports from Russia, DPA notes.
Trump has imposed punitive tariffs on Russia's trading partners to reduce its oil revenues, which President Vladimir Putin is using to finance the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and instead buy significantly more oil from the United States and possibly from Venezuela, which was an important trading partner of Russia until the US military intervention in Caracas.
The US president also announced a reduction in additional duties on Indian goods from 25 percent to 18 percent.
On Friday (US time), information was released about the prepared trade agreement between the United States and India, which includes reducing tariffs, redrawing energy ties and deepening economic cooperation, Reuters reports. The information released confirms that India will buy US goods worth $500 billion over a five-year period, including oil, gas, coal, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals and technology products.
India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods, as well as a wide range of food and agricultural products, Reuters reported.