US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted that ‘there could be a path’ to roll back the 25% additional tariffs on India, claiming that the nation's purchases of Russian oil have significantly dropped due to the levies imposed by the Trump administration, calling it a "huge success."
"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.
In August last year, Trump had issued an order slapping an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, citing the country’s alleged direct and indirect import of oil from the Russian Federation – with the combined tariffs amounting to 50%.
Bessent dropped the hint about rolling back the additional 25% tariffs at Davos, during a conversation with Politico, amid discussions in the US Congress on a proposed bill that could impose a 500% duty on countries buying Russian oil.
Bessent's claims at Davos
In his conversation with Politico, Bessent claimed that Indian purchases of Russian oil have "collapsed" due to US tariffs, hinting that, while tariffs remain in place – a diplomatic "path" exists to remove them, provided India shifts its energy sourcing and asserted that these trade measures provide tangible benefits to the American economy.
Delhi, however, has maintained its ‘India First’ energy policy, despite the proposed Russia Sanctions Bill emphasising that India's priority is securing ‘affordable energy’ for its 1.4 billion citizens.
What is the Russia Sanctions Bill?
In January, US Senator Lindsey Graham announced that US President Donald Trump has given 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".
Earlier, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Randhir Jaiswal, said that New Delhi is aware of the bill and is closely monitoring developments.
"We are aware of the proposed bill. We are closely following the developments," Jaiswal said during a weekly press briefing.
Bessent also criticised European countries for buying refined Russian oil from India, saying they're "financing the war against themselves," labelling their trade behaviour an "act of irony and stupidity."
He further claimed 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.
EU-India proposed FTA
Bessent's criticism of EU comes days ahead of the EU-India summit, 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.
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, despite the Russian oil controversy.
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, she stressed Europe's intent to expand trade and international cooperation. "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.
