India rupee opens weaker on rising trade tensions with US, avoids record low on likely RBI support
The currency managed to avert a drop past the record low of 87.95 to the dollar, likely due to intervention by the central bank, traders said.
The rupee opened at 87.85, compared to 87.6550 on Monday. At one point, the non-deliverable forward market had indicated that the rupee would weaken past 88 at open.
"It was looking like a straight break of 88 at open, RBI came in and capped the move," a senior FX trader at a private bank said.
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Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump again threatens to 'very substantially' hike tariffs on India over Russian oil
WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would increase the tariff charged on imports from India from the current rate of 25% "very substantially" over the next 24 hours, in view of New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil. He also said a "zero tariff" offer for imports of U.S. goods into India was not good enough, alleging that India was "fuelling the war" in Ukraine. Trump's threat to India for buying Russian oil started on July 31, when he announced a 25% tariff for Indian goods, along with an unspecified penalty. "They're fuelling 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 on Tuesday, adding that the main sticking point with India was that its tariffs were too high. "Now, I will say this, India went from the highest tariffs ever. They will give us zero tariffs, and they're going to let us go in. But that's not good enough, because of what they're doing with oil, not good." The latest comment followed a similar threat on Monday, which prompted India's Foreign Ministry to say the country was being unfairly singled out over its purchases of Russian oil. "It is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia (despite the Ukraine war)," it said in a statement issued late on Monday. "It is unjustified to single out India," it added. The EU conducted 67.5 billion euros ($78.0 billion) in trade with Russia in 2024, including record imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reaching 16.5 million metric tons, the Indian ministry said. The United States continues to import Russian uranium hexafluoride for use in its nuclear power industry, palladium, fertilisers and chemicals, it added, without giving a source for the export information. The U.S. embassy and the EU's delegation in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both the United States and EU have sharply scaled back their trade ties with Russia since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. India is the biggest buyer of seaborne crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by trade sources. It has faced pressure from the West to distance itself from Russia over the Ukraine war. New Delhi has resisted, citing its longstanding ties with Moscow and economic needs. India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is likely to go ahead with a scheduled visit to Russia this week, two government sources said. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar is expected to visit in the coming weeks. The sudden rift between India and the U.S. has been deepening since July 31. Trump has said that from Friday he will impose new sanctions on Russia as well as on countries that buy its energy exports, unless Moscow takes steps to end the war with Ukraine. The trade tensions have caused concern about the potential impact on India's economy. The equity benchmark BSE Sensex .BSESN closed down 0.38%, while the rupee dropped 0.17% versus the dollar.
The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Switzerland's president heads to Washington in effort to avert steep US tariffs
Switzerland's president and other top officials were traveling to Washington on Tuesday in a hastily arranged trip aimed at striking a deal with the Trump administration over steep U.S. tariffs that have cast a pall over Swiss industries like chocolates, machinery and watchmaking. President Karin Keller-Sutter was leading the delegation after last week's announcement that exports of Swiss goods to the U.S. will face a whopping 39% percent tariff starting Thursday. That is over 2 1/2 times higher than the rate on European Union goods exported to the U.S. and nearly four times higher than on British exports to the U.S. Many Swiss companies in industries including watchmaking and chocolates have expressed concern about the issue. It's also more than the 31% that Switzerland had been set to face when U.S. President Donald Trump announced his 'Liberation Day' tariffs on products from dozens of countries in early April. The Swiss government said the trip was 'to facilitate meetings with the U.S. authorities at short notice and hold talks with a view to improving the tariff situation for Switzerland.' Keller-Sutter, who also serves as Switzerland's finance minister, has faced criticism in Swiss media over a last-ditch call with Trump before a U.S. deadline on tariffs expired Aug. 1. She was leading a team that included Economy Minister Guy Parmelin. In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Trump alluded to the call, saying 'the woman was nice, but she didn't want to listen' and that he had told her: 'We have a $41 billion deficit with you, Madame ... and you want to pay 1% tariffs." 'I said, 'you're not going to pay 1%,'" he added. It was not immediately clear where that $41 billion figure came from. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the United States ran a $38.3 billion trade imbalance on goods last year with Switzerland. Swiss officials have argued that American goods face virtually zero tariffs in Switzerland, and the Swiss government says the wealthy Alpine country is the sixth-biggest foreign investor in the United States and the leading investor in research and development. Ivan Slatkine, the head of the Federation of Romandie Enterprises, which regroups companies in French-speaking Switzerland, told Le Temps newspaper that 39% tariffs amounted to a 'hammer blow for the entire Swiss economy." Some Swiss companies — like high-end watchmakers with little direct competition — might face less impact, but others in airplane parts, machines and mid-level watchmaking would be hit, he said. 'For all the companies that depend on the American market, it's really bad news — in particular compared to rivals in the European Union, whose exports are taxed only at 15%,' he was quoted Tuesday as saying. The trip comes a day after Switzerland's executive branch, the Federal Council, held an extraordinary meeting and said it was 'keen to pursue talks with the United States on the tariff situation,' the government statement Tuesday said. After consulting with Swiss businesses, the council said it had developed 'new approaches for its discussions' with U.S. officials and was looking ahead to continued negotiations. "Switzerland enters this new phase ready to present a more attractive offer, taking U.S. concerns into account and seeking to ease the current tariff situation," a council statement said Monday. Under the U.S. announcements Friday, Swiss companies will now have one of the steepest export duties — only Laos, Myanmar and Syria had higher figures, at 40-41%.
Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump says he will meet China's Xi if a trade deal is struck
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. was close to a trade deal with China and that he would meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the end of the year if an agreement is struck. "He asked for a meeting, and I'll end up having a meeting before the end of the year most likely, if we make a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'm not going to have a meeting," Trump told CNBC in an interview referring to China's Xi. "We're getting very close to a deal. We're getting along with China very well," Trump said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week he believed the U.S. had the "makings of a deal" with China after officials from the two countries met in Stockholm in a bid to resolve economic disputes aimed at extending their truce on a trade war by three months. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with the U.S. administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without a deal, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from U.S. duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. Speaking to CNBC, Trump also said his administration would soon impose tariffs on U.S. imports of pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and chips, which is expected to impact China.
