India Staring At New Tariffs With Trump Greenlighting Sanctions On Russia Oil Buyers

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC — India may be staring down a fresh round of steep US tariffs, with negotiations appearing to have stalled and new pressure mounting from the White House and Capitol Hill over New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil.

India is currently the world’s second largest buyer of Russian oil after China, benefiting from discounted supplies since the start of the Ukraine war.

President Donald Trump, who has used tariffs as a negotiating tactic, while speaking recently to reporters aboard Air Force One, had warned about India, “They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly.”

The latest move comes after Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump has approved bipartisan legislation that could allow Washington to sharply penalize countries buying energy from Moscow. In a social media post, Graham said he and Trump had a “productive” meeting on January 7 and that the bill could be brought up for a vote as early as next week.

US tariffs on India and China could rise by as much as 500 percent under the proposed sanctions, which targets countries that “knowingly” purchase Russian oil and uranium. The bill, sponsored by Graham, a Republican, and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, is designed to give the president what Graham described as “tremendous leverage” over countries such as India, China, and Brazil.

“This will be well timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace, and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent. This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries that buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine,” Graham posted.

Last year, Trump intensified his tariff campaign against India, imposing a 25 percent reciprocal tariff on Indian imports along with an additional 25 percent penalty tied to New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. The move pushed total duties on some Indian products to as high as 50 percent.

Recently, Trump had also threatened fresh tariffs on Indian rice after a farmer representative complained at a White House roundtable about alleged dumping by India, China, and Thailand.