‘I never said a percentage’: Trump on increasing tariffs on countries buying Russian energy

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) stated that they will see what happens over the next fairly short period of time and that he has never said a percentage.

The remarks were made during a press conference at the White House, originally called to discuss the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. When asked about imposing a 100 per cent tariff on countries buying Russian energy, Trump said, “I never said a percentage, but we’ll be doing quite a bit of that. We’ll see what happens over the next fairly short period of time… We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We’re going to see what happens…”

Reporter: Do you still plan to follow through on your threat to impose 100% tariffs on all countries that purchase Russian energy?

Trump: I never said a percentage

Reporter: You di— pic.twitter.com/eJGxOLCA13

— FactPost (@factpostnews) August 5, 2025

Meanwhile, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has taken a dig at US President Donald Trump for his announcements about substantially hiking tariffs over oil imports from Russia, saying he had given “China a pass” and cautioned him against burning “a relationship with a strong ally like India”.

India should not be buying oil from Russia. But China, an adversary and the number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil, got a 90-day tariff pause. Don’t give China a pass and burn a relationship with a strong ally like India.

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) August 5, 2025

Haley said in a post on X that China is an adversary of the United States and “number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil,” has been given a 90-day tariff pause by the Trump Administration. “India should not be buying oil from Russia. But China, an adversary and the number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil, got a 90-day tariff pause. Don’t give China a pass and burn a relationship with a strong ally like India”, she said.

Haley was the last of Trump’s major rivals to drop out of the Republican primary contest in Presidential candidate race last year.

Trump on Tuesday said he will increase the tariff charged on imports from India from the current rate of 25 per cent “very substantially” over the next 24 hours due to New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil, according to Reuters.

“They’re fueling the war machine, and if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy,” Trump told CNBC in an interview, Reuters reported. According to the report, he added that the main sticking point with India was that its tariffs were too high but did not provide a new tariff rate.

Trump had said on Monday that the United States will “substantially raise” the tariff paid by India for buying “massive amounts of Russian Oil”, stating that much of the oil purchased from Moscow is being sold in the open market “for big profits”.

Trump’s announcement, made on his social media platform Truth Social, came days after he announced a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on India and an unspecified penalty for importing oil from Russia.

“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!” the US President said in the post. (ANI)