'Don't burn ties with strong ally like India': Nikki Haley on Trump's tariff threat over oil import from Russia
PTC News Desk: As Donald Trump has upped the ante on India with threatening to increase tariff over its purchase of oil from Russia with 25 % already in place, Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has criticised US President for the move and warned that such a decision could strain the US-India relationship at a crucial time.
She warned Trump not to give a pass to "adversary" China and "burn" relations with an ally like India.
The Republican leader also called out the Trump administration's duplicity, highlighting a soft-handling of trade with China in which the US paused the tariffs for 90 days.
In a post on social media platform X, Haley wrote, "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".
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
"Don’t give China a pass and burn a relationship with a strong ally like India," she added.
Nikki Haley's remarks follow Trump's latest interview with CNBC where he vehemently threatened of levying additional tariffs on India within 24 hours with 25 per cent already in place from August 1. He tied the move with India's continued purchase of Russian oil, stating that New Delhi was "fuelling the war machine".
"India has the highest tariffs of any country," Trump said during the interview. "They do a lot of business with us. We don’t do much with them. We agreed on 25 per cent tariffs, but I’m going to raise that very substantially now because of their Russian oil trade," Trump said
- With inputs from agencies
