India dropped Russian oil after Trump’s tariff – US Treasury secretary

India’s purchases of Russian oil have halted following the tariff imposed by President Donald Trump, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has claimed.

Bessent made the statement while answering a question about a proposed bill to impose an additional 500% tariff on countries that still trade with Russia.

“India started buying Russian oil after the [Ukraine] conflict began but President Trump put a 25% tariff on them,”  Bessent told Fox Business in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday. He added that New Delhi “has geared down and has stopped buying Russian oil.”

Bessent also said Trump does not need approval from the US Senate to impose a 500% tariff on countries that buy oil from Russia.  A bill by Senator Lindsey Graham calls for such a tariff on countries that buy Russian energy. 

“We don’t believe that President Trump needs that authority, that he can do it under IEPA [International Emergency Economic Powers Act], but that the Senate wants to give him that authority,” Bessent said.

The US imposed a 50% tariff on India in August, half of which was due to its oil purchases from Russia.

New Delhi has not acknowledged any reduction in Russian oil purchases, and maintains that its energy policy is dictated by national interest. India has said that it is tracking the bill proposed by Graham.

“We are fully aware of the proposed bill being discussed, and we are carefully monitoring all related issues and developments connected with it,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said earlier this month.

Graham had also claimed that India had substantially reduced its oil purchases from Russia after Washington hit it with tariffs.

The US Treasury imposed sanctions on two of Russia’s largest energy companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, last October.

Russia has been India’s top oil supplier since 2022, providing 36% of its imports.