Amid fears of a potential 500% tariff on India and others on purchases of Russian oil, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday hinted that Delhi could be exempt from the Donald Trump administration’s tax, saying it had halted purchases from Moscow.
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos during an interview with Fox Business, Bessent provided key updates on Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Russia sanctions bill, which tracks the 500 percent tariff, including its intended targets and the process to pass it.
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What did Bessent say about India’s oil purchases from Russia?
Commenting on Russian oil purchases, the US Treasury Secretary said that while India was a buyer, it had “geared up” and “stopped” oil purchases from Moscow.
“India started buying Russian oil after the conflict started, but President Trump put a 25% tariff on them and India went down and stopped buying Russian oil,” Bessent said.
While claiming that India had stopped buying Russian oil, Bessent took a dig at Europe, saying, “We have Europe buying Russian oil, even four years later. They are financing a war against each other.”
Commenting on Beijing, Bessent said: “China is a very big buyer of Russian oil, as well as Iranian oil.”
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Bill before Senate, but does Trump need approval?
“As for the 500% tariff on buyers of Russian oil, that is the proposal that Senator Graham has before the Senate and we will see if it passes,” Bessent commented on the status of the proposal.
“We don’t believe that President Trump needs that authority, that he can do it under the IEPA, but that the Senate wants to give him that authority,” he added, hinting that Trump could unilaterally impose the said tariffs.
In October of last year, Senator Graham, who introduced the bill, claimed that 85 US senators were willing to give Trump the power to impose 500% tariffs on China for buying Russian oil.
Subsequently, when he released details of the bill on January 8, Senator Graham said it would give Trump “tremendous leverage over countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that is funding Putin’s carnage in Ukraine.”
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What did India say about the proposed tariffs?
After Senator Graham publicly revealed that the bill sought to target India, among others, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was aware of the measure being discussed and was monitoring developments.
“We are fully aware of the deliberations on the proposed law and are closely monitoring all related issues and developments related to it,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said earlier this month.
He also commented on India’s approach to energy, saying, “We take into account the global market conditions and environment, while keeping in mind our imperative to ensure that energy is available at affordable prices to our 1.4 billion people. Based on these factors, we determine our strategy and policy.”
