U.S. President Donald Trump speaks often with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and trade teams from both countries continue to hold talks, the White House said on Tuesday (November 4, 2025).

“The President and his trade team continue to be in very serious discussions with India,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “I know the President has great respect for Prime Minister Modi, and they speak pretty frequently.”

Mr. Trump said last week in South Korea that he wanted to reach a trade deal with India — signaling a thaw in relations that soured to their lowest point in decades after the U.S. President doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50% as punishment for India’s purchases of Russian oil.

Indian refiners cut Russian oil imports after Washington imposed sanctions last week on Moscow’s top two crude exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.

The Trump administration has told the U.S. Supreme Court that it imposed tariffs against India for purchasing Russian energy products “to deal with a preexisting national emergency regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine” and as a “crucial aspect” of the President’s push for peace in the country.

Mr. Trump has imposed 25% reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25% levies for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50%, with effect from August 27.

In a 251-page appeal to the Supreme Court, submitted on Wednesday (September 3, 2025), the Trump administration said that “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 further states that the “stakes in this case could not be higher. 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 said that due to IEEPA tariffs, six major trading partners and the 27-nation European Union have already entered into framework deals with the United States, accepting tariff arrangements heavily recalibrated in America’s favour and agreeing to make approximately $2 trillion of purchases and investment in the U.S.’ economy.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, in a 7-to-4 ruling, said the sweeping tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump on countries around the world are illegal, but also gave the administration time till October 14 to file a petition for a writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court, which the Trump administration did on Wednesday (September 4, 2025).

The appeal states that according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the 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 U.S. 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.”

Pointing to the “fractured, 7-4 decision” of the appeals court declaring the President’s use of IEEPA tariffs as unlawful, the Trump administration told the court that “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.”

Several of the Trump administration’s officials, including Mr. Bessent and trade advisor Peter Navarro, have said that India’s purchases of Russian oil are financing the Russian war effort in Ukraine.

On Wednesday (September 4, 2025), Mr. Trump said he put secondary sanctions on India for its purchases of Russian oil, “the largest purchaser outside of China”, and indicated that he hasn’t done “phase two yet or phase three” yet.

India has called the tariffs imposed by the U.S. “unjustified and unreasonable”.

New Delhi said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said India’s purchases of Russian crude were funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine and had to stop, adding that New Delhi was “now cozying up to both Russia and China.”

“If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the U.S., it needs to start acting like one,” Mr. Navarro wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times.

EXPLAINED | Will India cave in to U.S. pressure on Russian oil?

The Ministry of External Affairs has previously said India is being unfairly singled out for buying Russian oil while the United States and European Union continue to purchase goods from Russia. U.S. President Donald Trump levied an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods earlier this month, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil, taking total tariffs on imports from India to 50%.

“India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” Mr. Navarro said.

DATA | Donald Trump’s criticism of India for its oil and arms trade with Russia is factual but illogical

The adviser also said it was risky to transfer cutting-edge U.S. military capabilities to India as New Delhi was “now cozying up to both Russia and China.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting India from Monday (August 18, 2025) for talks on the disputed border between the two countries.

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A planned visit by U.S. trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25-29 has been called off, a source said over the weekend, delaying talks on a proposed trade agreement and dashing hopes of relief from additional U.S. tariffs on Indian goods from August 27.