News / US hits India with extra 25% tariff – but this may be 'self-defeating'

ID 155056399 © Ruletkka

The US has an issued a “self-defeating” executive order to hit Indian imports with an additional 25% tariff, making its total duty rate 50%.

The tariff increase, announced today, in response to the country purchasing Russian oil, now makes Indian goods, alongside those from Brazil, subject to the highest levies imposed by the US.

The rate will be applied to imports or goods “withdrawn from warehouse for consumption” in 21 days, from 27 August.

“The Russian Federation’s actions in Ukraine pose an ongoing threat to US national security and foreign policy, necessitating stronger measures to address the national emergency,” said a White House statement.

“India’s importation of Russian Federation oil undermines US efforts to counter Russia’s harmful activities.”

It said the US president was using the tariff to “deter countries from supporting the Russian Federation’s economy” and he would determine which other countries import oil from Russia with further action taken “as needed”.

Market data company Rotate told The Loadstar India-origin goods had accounted for just 3.6% of all US air imports in 2025 so far. But despite being an “overall relatively small player” in air, Rotate noted that in some industry verticals, “India is an important origin country for the US”.

Of the healthcare and pharmaceuticals airfreighted into the US, 10% comes from India, and recently imports of mobile phones from India have “boomed due to a reduction of phones out of China”.

“Given the high value of the goods in those verticals, we can expect shippers in those categories to be looking at their sourcing and supply chain closely for US-bound goods,” concluded Rotate.

John Manners-Bell, CEO of Transport Intelligence, told The Loadstar that “unless the threat of new tariffs is lifted, there will be a huge spike in air cargo demand as shippers try to beat the deadline”.

“Earlier in the year, similar ‘front-loading’ resulted in a big upturn in the number of iPhones shipped by Apple’s suppliers, Foxconn and Tata Electronics from India to the US,” he explained.

“More broadly, the tariffs will throw many global manufacturers’ ‘China Plus’ strategies into disarray. Given that US policy has been to lessen its economy’s dependence on China, the new tariffs would seem self-defeating,” Mr Manners-Bell concluded.