A train transports oil tankers in Ajmer on July 7, 2025. Indian exporters are scrambling for options as they seek to mitigate the fallout of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff salvo against the world’s most populous nation.
Himanshu Sharma | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro on Monday called on India to stop buying Russian crude oil, accusing the Asian giant of undermining international efforts to isolate Vladimir Putin’s war economy.
Writing in in the Financial Times, Navarro described India’s dependence on Russian oil as “opportunistic,” adding that if India “wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one.”
“In effect, India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” Navarro said in the op-ed.
His comments come shortly after trade negotiations between the U.S. and India, which had been scheduled to take place in New Delhi later this month, were reportedly called off.
India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Office of the U.S Trade Representative did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comments.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it planned to impose an additional 25% tariff on India over Russian oil purchases, bringing the total levies against the country to 50%. The cumulative rate of duties on India is among the highest on any of Washington’s trade partners.
India described the move as “extremely unfortunate” at the time, saying the tariffs were “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”
The White House has since warned that secondary levies on India could increase further, depending on the outcome of Trump’s peace talks with Putin.
For its part, India has said it has been unfairly targeted for its continuing trade with Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, amid criticism from both the U.S. and European Union.
In a statement published Aug. 4, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the country began importing from Russian because traditional supplies were diverted from Europe after the outbreak of the conflict.
“India’s imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer. They are a necessity compelled by global market situation,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.
“However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion,” it added.
Trump’s criticism of India’s oil trade with Russia represents a clear shift from the Biden administration, which, along with other G7 nations, Australia and the European Union, established a $60 a barrel price cap in late 2022. The EU has since signaled it has reached an agreement to lower the price threshold.
This mechanism sought to limit Russia’s revenue from oil sales, while maintaining some stability in global energy markets.
Shilan Shah, deputy chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said India could, in principle, find suppliers other than Russia to meet its energy needs “relatively easily,” with limited economic impact.
“But we doubt that India would make a wholehearted effort to wean itself off Russian oil. Domestically, it would not play well to be seen caving to Trump’s demands,” Shah said in a note published Aug. 4.
“In addition, Indian policymakers would be reluctant to upend generally cordial (and long-standing) relations with Russia,” he added.
— CNBC’s Vinay Dwivedi contributed to this report.
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