A key Trump administration trade advisor warned in an op-ed on Monday that India needs to stop buying oil from Russia, arguing the purchases are helping finance Russia’s war against Ukraine.
White House trade advisor Peter Navarro wrote in the Financial Times on Monday that India is “cozying up to both Russia and China,” and said that needs to change if it wants the U.S. to be a key international partner.
“If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the U.S., it needs to start acting like one,” Navarro wrote.
“India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needed,” he added.
TRUMP HITS INDIA WITH 25% TARIFF OVER RUSSIA OIL PURCHASES
Navarro also took issue with the Biden administration’s handling of the issue and said the Trump administration’s approach will address India’s purchases of Russian oil.
“The Biden administration largely looked the other way at this strategic and geopolitical madness,” he wrote. “The Trump administration is confronting it.”
Ahead of President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, the Trump administration announced 25% tariffs on India over its oil purchases from Russia.
HOW A SUMMER OF STRATEGIC PRESSURE SET STAGE FOR TRUMP-PUTIN TALKS IN ALASKA
The executive order cited the “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy.
It also created a mechanism for U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to monitor other countries buying Russian oil and potentially recommend they be hit with economic sanctions like the 25% tariffs on India.
The 25% tariffs on U.S. imports from India over the country’s purchases of Russian oil were set to take effect 21 days after Aug. 6, which gives the country less than two weeks to attempt to negotiate with the Trump administration over the levies.
TRUMP USING OIL TARIFFS, SANCTION THREATS AS LEVERAGE AHEAD OF PUTIN SHOWDOWN IN ALASKA
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of this month.
India’s foreign ministry has previously said it’s being unfairly singled out for buying Russian oil while both the U.S. and European Union continue to purchase certain goods from Russia.
A planned visit by U.S. trade negotiators to New Delhi from Aug. 25-29 was called off, according to a report over the weekend by Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter.
That could delay negotiations over a trade agreement and hamper efforts to delay the new U.S. tariffs from taking effect on Aug. 27.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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