NEW DELHI: In a blistering attack on India’s continued purchase of Russian oil, US President Donald Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, accused New Delhi of running a “profiteering scheme” and alleged that punitive tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Indian imports are likely to take effect next week.
Calling India the “Maharaj of tariffs,” Navarro told reporters outside the White House that the new levies are on track to be enforced on August 27. “I see that taking place,” he said.
The comments come amid escalating trade tensions between the two countries and growing US frustration over India’s energy ties with Russia. Since the 2022 Ukraine conflict, India has significantly increased its purchases of discounted Russian crude and has also been refining it for exporting, an arrangement Navarro called a “laundromat for the Kremlin,” though India maintains that it has done so under US advice.
“Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India virtually bought no Russian oil... It was like almost one per cent of their need. The percentage has now gone up to 35 per cent... They don’t need the oil. It’s a refining profit-sharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin. That’s the reality of that,” Navarro said.
India, for its part, has defended its purchases, citing both economic necessity and US encouragement to stabilise the global energy market. During the just-concluded visit to Moscow, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said, “We are a country where, actually, the Americans said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilise the world energy markets, including buying oil from Russia.”
The Trump administration, however, argues the flow of money is indirectly funding Russia’s “war effort.”
“What is the net impact on Americans because of our trade with India? They are Maharaj in tariff... We have higher non-tariff barriers, massive trade deficit etc., and that hurts American workers and American business,” Navarro said. “The money they get from us, they use it to buy Russian oil… The Russians use the money to build arms and kill Ukrainians and American taxpayers have to provide more aid… That’s insane.”
As he termed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “a great leader,” Navarro urged India to rethink its global role. “Please, please India… what you’re doing right now is not creating peace, it’s perpetuating the war.”