NEW YORK, Jan. 24 -- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has signalled that the Donald Trump-led administration could consider rolling back half of the 50 per cent tariffs imposed on India, citing what he described as a sharp reduction in New Delhi's purchases of Russian crude oil in recent months. Speaking in an interview with an American news outlet Politico, Bessent said India's move to scale down imports of Russian oil had created conditions favourable for easing at least 25 per cent tariffs levied on Indian goods. The United States had imposed the tariffs in two tranches. While 25 per cent duties were slapped on India over alleged trade imbalances, another 25 per cent levy was introduced as a punitive measure in response to India's continued purchases of crude oil from Russia, even as Washington sought to tighten economic pressure on Moscow. Bessent on Friday defined the sanctions imposed on India as a "success". "We put 25 per cent tariffs 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.
The 25 per cent Russian oil tariffs are still on," Bessent said. Bessent also criticised Europe for not imposing tariffs on India. "Our virtue-signalling European allies refused to do it (impose tariffs) because they wanted to sign this big trade deal with India," he said. Bessent accused India of importing and refining more oil from Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. "Before the Ukraine invasion, approximately 2 per cent or 3 per cent of Indian oil that went into their refineries came from Russia. The oil was sanctioned. It got deeply discounted and moved up into the high teens-17, 18, 19 per cent was being refined. Huge profits from the refiners," he said. He accused Europe of funding Russia's war by purchasing the oil refined in India. "But in the ultimate act of irony and stupidity, guess who was buying the refined products from the Indian . refineries made from Russian oil. The Europeans. They. are financing the war against themselves," he added. When asked if he called the Europeans "stupid", Bessent said, "I said there was an act of stupidity." India and the EU are likely to announce the closure of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) soon. India had described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable" while maintaining that its energy policy is guided by its own national interest. India fell to third place among buyers of Russian fossil fuels in December, after Reliance Industries and state-owned refiners sharply reduced their crude oil imports, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.