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The US Treasury Secretary has claimed that American tariffs led to a sharp fall in India’s Russian oil imports, criticizing Europe’s role while highlighting shifting trade dynamics involving India, the EU, the US, and Russia amid ongoing sanctions and negotiations.
US Links Tariffs to Fall in India’s Russian Oil Purchases
New Delhi: As India and the European Union prepare to conclude negotiations on a long-awaited trade agreement next week, the United States has publicly claimed credit for a major shift in India’s oil sourcing. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that American tariffs imposed on India for purchasing Russian oil have successfully led to a collapse in Indian refinery purchases from Russia.
In an interview with Politico, Bessent said the US imposed 25 per cent tariffs on India specifically targeting Russian oil imports. According to him, the policy worked as intended, with Indian refineries sharply reducing their purchases. He described the outcome as a “huge success” and indicated there could be a future pathway to removing the tariffs.
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Bessent sharply criticised European countries, accusing them of “virtue signalling” rather than taking real action against Russian oil purchases. He claimed that European allies avoided imposing similar measures on India because they wanted to secure a major trade deal with New Delhi.
He also highlighted what he called a major contradiction: while Europe publicly opposed Russian energy, European countries were buying refined petroleum products from Indian refineries that processed Russian crude. According to Bessent, this indirectly meant Europe was financing the very war it opposed.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian oil made up only 2–3 per cent of India’s total oil imports. After the conflict began, India increased purchases significantly, with Russian crude accounting for 18–19 per cent of refinery intake. This allowed Indian refiners to buy discounted oil and generate strong profits by exporting refined fuels.
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However, official trade data now shows that India’s imports from Russia fell by more than 18 per cent between April and October last year compared to the previous year.
Alongside tariffs on India, Washington has imposed strict sanctions on Russia’s largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, aiming to limit Moscow’s ability to fund the war. The European Union has also tightened pressure, unveiling its 19th sanctions package, which bans imports of fuel refined from Russian crude through third countries.
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At the same time, India-US trade has grown rapidly. Imports from the US rose 62 per cent during the same period, and Indian public sector refiners have signed long-term contracts to import American LPG. India has also opened parts of its nuclear sector amid US interest in nuclear energy expansion.
Despite ongoing US tariffs, India and the EU have made swift progress in trade talks, closing nearly 20 of 24 negotiation chapters over the past six months. Both sides aim to finalise the deal soon, reflecting India’s increasingly central role in global trade and energy realignment.
