The Trump administration has approached the US Supreme Court defending its decision to impose steep tariffs on India, citing the country’s continued purchases of Russian oil. According to a 251-page appeal filed on Wednesday, the administration argued that the duties are tied to a “pre-existing national emergency regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine” and form a “crucial aspect” of US President Donald Trump’s peace strategy.
India has been subjected to 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs and an additional 25 per cent levy on Russian energy imports, bringing the overall duty to 50 per cent with effect from August 27.
“The President recently authorised IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) tariffs against India for purchasing Russian energy products, to deal with a preexisting national emergency regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, as a crucial aspect of his push for peace in that war-torn country,” the appeal stated, as per news agency PTI.
US Appeals Against Lower Court Ruling
The administration’s plea comes after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, in a 7-4 ruling, declared the global tariffs unlawful. However, the court allowed time until October 14 for a petition to be filed in the Supreme Court, which the Trump team has now done.
The appeal asserted that the “stakes in this case could not be higher,” adding: “The President and his Cabinet officials have determined that the tariffs are promoting peace and unprecedented economic prosperity, and that the denial of tariff authority would expose our nation to trade retaliation without effective defences and thrust America back to the brink of economic catastrophe.”
It further noted that the tariffs had already led six major US trading partners and the 27-member European Union to agree to framework deals, resulting in commitments worth approximately USD 2 trillion in purchases and investment in the American economy.
Treasury Chief Warns of Risks if Tariffs Removed
Quoting Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the appeal underscored that tariffs “have been one of the country’s top foreign policy priorities for the last several months” and removing them “would lead to dangerous diplomatic embarrassment, expose the US to the risk of retaliation, and interrupt ongoing negotiations mid-stream, undermining our ability to protect the national security and economic welfare of the American people.”
The filing also emphasised that the appeals court’s “fractured, 7-4 decision” had cast uncertainty over ongoing negotiations. “That decision casts a pall of uncertainty upon ongoing foreign negotiations that the President has been pursuing through tariffs over the past five months, jeopardising both already-negotiated framework deals and ongoing negotiations,” it read, as per PTI.
India Terms US Tariffs ‘Unjustified and Unreasonable’
Trump has also declared that India, which he described as “the largest purchaser [of Russian oil] outside of China,” faced secondary sanctions. “I haven’t done phase two yet or phase three yet,” he said on Wednesday, signalling further measures may follow.
Senior Trump officials, including Bessent and trade advisor Peter Navarro, have accused India’s oil imports from Russia of indirectly financing Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
New Delhi, however, has rejected Washington’s measures as “unjustified and unreasonable,” maintaining that, like any major economy, it will take “all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.”
