Opinion
Mint Quick Edit | Don’t queer the pitch: Biden mustn’t fire a fresh salvo
Summary
- The US White House is reportedly considering clamps on Russian oil exports that may target buyers like India and China. New sanctions could roil oil markets. It’s best to refrain from drastic moves.
Even as the world waits to see if Donald Trump’s presidency of the US will be able to dissipate war clouds and plumes of bomb smoke, President Joe Biden’s administration seems bent on firing fresh salvos at the fag end of its tenure.
The White House is reportedly mulling harsher sanctions against Russia’s oil industry that could potentially target buyers of Russian oil, like China and India.
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As of now, Russian oil exports have a West-imposed price cap, a regime that kept global crude prices stable by ensuring that flows from Russia did not stop.
If new clamps restrict this supply, as sanctions similar to those on Iran would do, global demand and supply will go out of whack and send prices up just as inflation has been receding as a threat.
With a power handover to Trump due on 20 January, the White House should refrain from queering the pitch with such a drastic move.
Also read: The ghost that haunts the global oil markets
In any case, such sanctions cause too much economic damage globally to justify, given how ineffective they have proven in ending wars or easing geopolitical tensions.
All US leaders must acknowledge that its global leadership stemmed at least partly from acting in the world’s common interest.
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