Trump aide Scott Bessent hints at US removing 25% tariffs on India over Russian oil purchase

President Donald Trump’s key aide and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted at Davos that the additional 25% tariffs on India might be removed after India’s purchases of Russian oil have significantly dropped, calling the tariff imposed by the US a ‘huge success’. Bessent made the remarks during a conversation with Politico. He said that Indian refinery purchases of Russian oil have “collapsed” due to US tariffs, hinting that a diplomatic “path” exists to remove the tariffs, provided India shifts its energy sourcing, and asserted that these trade measures provide tangible benefits to the American economy.

“We put a 25 per cent tariff on India for buying Russian oil, and the Indian purchases by their refineries of Russian oil have collapsed. So that is a success. The tariffs are still on. I would imagine there is a path to take them off, so that’s a check and a huge success,” Bessent told Politico.

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‘European countries are financing the war against themselves’

Bessent also criticised European countries for buying refined Russian oil from India. “They are financing the war against themselves,” he said, labelling their trade behaviour an “act of irony and stupidity.”

He argued that by purchasing refined petroleum products from India (made from Russian crude), Europe is indirectly financing Russia’s war effort.

“Just to be clear, let’s understand what’s happening. Before the Ukraine invasion, approximately 2-3 per cent of Indian oil that went into its refineries came from Russia. The oil was sanctioned. It got deeply discounted and moved up into the high teens—17, 18, 19% was being refined. Huge pro, huge profits from the refiners. But in the ultimate act of irony and stupidity, guess who was buying the refined products from the Indian refineries made from Russian oil? The Europeans. They are financing the war against themselves. They are financing the Russians,” Bessent told Politico.

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‘EU ‘virtue signalling’ to protect upcoming EU-India FTA’

Bessent further said that the EU is ‘virtue signalling’ by avoiding similar tariffs on India to protect the upcoming EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA). “I will also point out that our virtue signalling European allies refused to do it because they wanted to sign this big trade deal with India,” he added.

The EU and India are set to discuss a comprehensive strategic agenda, with a Free Trade Agreement in the works, described as "the mother of all deals" by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a historic agreement covering a market of 2 billion people and 25% of global GDP.

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The European Union and India will hold the 16th summit in New Delhi, where a new EU-India comprehensive strategic agenda is expected to be adopted. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen is scheduled to visit New Delhi next weekend to finalise the deal, signalling that Europe views India as an indispensable economic partner.

“There is still work to do. But we are on the cusp of a historic trade agreement. Some call it the mother of all deals. One that would create a market of 2 billion people, accounting for almost a quarter of global GDP,” von der Leyen said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

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In January, Trump gave a green light to the bipartisan Russia Sanctions Bill, which would give leverage against India, China, and Brazil to stop them from purchasing Russian oil and punish the countries “fuelling Putin’s war machine”.