Washington, 2 February 2026 (dpa/MIA) - US President Donald Trump announced a reduction in tariffs on Indian imports on Monday after saying that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying oil from Russia in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

In the post, he mentioned reducing the so-called "reciprocal tariff" he imposed on the country from 25 to 18%.

Trump sees tariffs as offsetting alleged imbalances and disadvantages for the United States in international trade.

In return, Modi is said to have promised in a phone call to reduce his tariffs and other trade barriers for US products to zero and to purchase significantly more US goods – including energy, technology and agricultural products worth more than $500 billion.

Trump described this as a "Trade Deal."

Trump says India will no longer buy oil from Russia

"[Modi] agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela," Trump posted. "This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!"

Trump had already announced in October that Modi had assured him that his country would no longer buy oil from Russia. At that time, India showed a willingness to increase energy imports from the US but left open whether it would stop its controversial oil imports from Russia.

This time too, Modi expressed relief on the platform X that the tariffs are to be reduced, but again left it unclear whether India will indeed stop sourcing oil from Russia.

Both emphasized their mutual friendship.

"Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement," Modi wrote.

"President Trump's leadership is vital for global peace, stability, and prosperity. India fully supports his efforts for peace. I look forward to working closely with him to take our partnership to unprecedented heights," Modi wrote in his post on X.

Tariffs Trump imposed on India

Trump had previously criticized the government in New Delhi multiple times for its oil dealings with Moscow - and therefore also imposed additional punitive tariffs of 25% on imports from India in August.

Prior to this, he had imposed the so-called reciprocal tariff of 25% on India, which is the tariff Trump refers to in his post.

His announcement to reduce the "reciprocal tariff" came a few days after India and the European Union declared that they had concluded their negotiations on a free trade agreement.

This was also considered a geopolitically significant step against the backdrop of Trump's aggressive trade and tariff policies.

MIA file photo