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US G7 Oil Tariffs: The US has asked G7 countries to ramp up pressure on countries buying Russian oil, to end the war in Ukraine, a joint statement released by the US Department of the Treasury said on Friday. The statement said the US has received “commitments” from G7 countries to increase sanctions pressure on Russian oil buyers. China and India are the top buyers of Russian oil.
“Only with a unified effort that cuts off the revenues funding Putin’s war machine at the source will we be able to apply sufficient economic pressure to end the senseless killing,” Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury, and Jamieson Greer, United States Trade Representative, told the G7 Finance Ministers, according to the joint statement.
The US call to intensify pressure on India and China comes weeks after Washington dramatically raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent — higher than China, which is facing 30 per cent tariffs, or other competitors such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, which are facing tariffs of less than 20 per cent — raising fears of job losses in labour-intensive sectors and complicating negotiations for a trade deal.
“Thanks to President Trump’s bold leadership, the United States has already taken dramatic action against the purchasers of Russian oil. We are encouraged by the assurances of our fellow G7 nations that they are committed to ending this war, and we are hopeful that they will join us in taking decisive action at this critical time,” Bessent and Greer said.
The G7 is an informal bloc of countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News, stated that imposing tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil was not an easy decision, and that it has caused a rift with New Delhi.
“Look, India was their biggest customer. I put a 50 per cent tariff on India because they’re buying oil from Russia. That’s not an easy thing to do. That’s a big deal, and it causes a rift with India. But I’ve already done it. I’ve done a lot. And remember this is a European problem much more than our problem,” Trump said.
However, India has maintained that it will continue to buy Russian oil. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this month said that economic and commercial considerations drive India’s oil purchases.
The Finance Minister also said that the impact of 50 per cent tariffs imposed on Indian goods by the Trump administration would be offset to a certain extent by the recently announced Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms, which included simplification and reduction of indirect tax rates on numerous items. The government is also working on measures to “handhold” those hit by the high US tariffs, Sitharaman said in an interview with television news channel CNN-News18.
India is the world’s third-largest consumer of crude and depends on imports to meet around 88 per cent of its requirement. Russian crude, which usually comes at a discount, has helped India save billions of dollars’ worth of foreign exchange over the past three years.
