DAVOS, Jan 24: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a close aide of American President Donald Trump, has dropped hints that Washington may remove the additional 25% tariff slapped on India, saying New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil have significantly gone down because of the increased tariff.
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Bessent, in an interview to Politico on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting, called the levying of the additional tariff on India a “huge success.”
Bessent claimed the purchase of Russian oil by the Indian refineries has “collapsed” as a result of the steep US tariff.
“We put a 25 per cent tariff 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. I would imagine there is a path to take them off, so that’s a check and a huge success”, Bessent said.
The US Treasury Secretary’s remarks have come in the midst of a debate in the US Congress on a proposed legislation imposing a huge 500 per cent duty on countries purchasing Russian oil.
New Delhi has, however, reiterated its India First energy policy, saying its oil purchases were based on the requirement of “affordable energy” for its population.
The US Treasury Secretary also came down on European nations for purchasing refined Russian oil from India.
Accusing the European nations of indirectly financing Russia’s war effort by buying refined Russian-crude made petroleum products from India, he dubbed it “the ultimate act of irony and stupidity”.
“Just to be clear, let’s understand what’s happening. Before the Ukraine invasion, approximately 2-3 per cent of Indian oil that went into its refineries came from Russia. The oil was sanctioned. It got deeply discounted and moved up into the high teens- 7, 18, 19% was being refined. Huge pro, huge profits from the refiners.
“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. They are financing the Russian”, Bessent said.
Bessent’s comments came in the backdrop of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s scheduled visit to New Delhi next weekend to finalise a Free Trade Agreement, which von der Leyen has described as “the mother of all deals”.
Bessent described the EU’s avoidance of imposing US-like tariffs on India as “virtue signalling”.
“I will also point out that our virtue signalling European allies refused to do it because they wanted to sign this big trade deal with India,” he added. (UNI)
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