United States trade negotiators have informed their Indian counterparts that reducing purchases of Russian oil is a crucial element for lowering India’s tariff rate and successfully concluding a trade deal, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
While an unnamed US official indicated that trade talks are generally on a positive trajectory, more efforts are necessary to ensure India addresses US concerns regarding market access, the trade deficit, and most notably, its purchases of Russian oil.
US President Donald Trump has been actively seeking to compel India, the European Union, and NATO members to limit their purchases of Russian oil. This is part of a strategy aimed at cutting Moscow’s revenue and accelerating an end to the war in Ukraine.
The Trump administration has clearly demonstrated its willingness to use maximum leverage to achieve its policy objectives, as evidenced by its decision to directly link the ongoing trade negotiations with India to demands that New Delhi restrict its Russian oil imports. Trump has voiced increasing frustration over the slow pace of efforts to halt Russia’s war in Ukraine, a conflict he vowed to resolve from the beginning of his term.
The US has imposed an extra 25% tariff on imports from India to pressure New Delhi to cease its procurement of discounted Russian crude oil. This action has driven total punitive duties on Indian goods up to 50%, severely souring trade negotiations between the two major democracies.
Despite this pressure on India, Trump has refrained from imposing additional tariffs on Chinese imports over China’s continuing purchases of Russian oil, a move seen as the administration carefully managing a delicate trade truce with Beijing.
India and China are collectively the two largest buyers of Russian oil, which is already subject to numerous US sanctions that have constrained Moscow’s access to global markets.
In defending its oil imports, India has consistently emphasized the economic necessity of the purchases and has countered by accusing Western nations of hypocrisy for continuing their own trade with Russia despite the sanctions they have imposed.
