Trump admin turns up the heat as Treasury Secretary calls India’s Russian oil purchase ‘unacceptable’

In a post on X, he said the “system is allowing India to profiteer by buying cheap Russian oil, reselling it, and pocketing $16B in excess profits,”.

On August 6, the US slapped 25 per cent additional tariff on India for buying Russian oil, doubling the total tariff to 50 per cent and catapulting the country to one facing the highest import duties among Washington’s trade partners. New Delhi called the tariff action “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”, and said it would take “all actions necessary” to “protect its national interests”.

India is the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil and meets 88 per cent of its oil demand from imports. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow’s share in New Delhi’s oil imports was less than 2 per cent. That has now risen to nearly 40 per cent.

Before the war in Ukraine, less than 1% of India’s oil came from Russia. Now it is 42%.

The system is allowing India to profiteer by buying cheap Russian oil, reselling it, and pocketing $16B in excess profits.

This opportunistic arbitrage is unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/zp4FuKs9vJ

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 19, 2025

Bessent was also asked about the lack of a similar action against China, and the treasury secretary responded that the situation was “completely different”. Beijing, he said, was a longtime buyer and hadn’t engaged in the kind of “arbitrage” done by India.

Higher tariff revenue to be used to pay down federal debt

Bessent said that he expected a substantial increase in tariff revenues from the $300 billion he forecast earlier this year, with the money to be used to start paying down the US federal debt, Reuters reported.

He declined to give a specific new revenue forecast, but said he and President Donald Trump were “laser-focused” on paying down the debt.

“I’ve been saying that tariff revenue could be $300 billion this year. I’m going to have to revise that up substantially,” he said.

India should start ‘acting’ like strategic partner: Trump aide

Bessent’s comments came close on the heels of White House trade advisor Peter Navarro saying that India needed to start acting like a strategic partner of the US if it wanted to be treated like one. “India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” he wrote. Navarro also claimed in an opinion piece in the Financial Times that India was “now cozying up to both Russia and China”.

Navarro wrote: “Here’s how the India-Russia oil mathematics works. American consumers buy Indian goods. India uses those dollars to buy discounted Russian crude. That Russian crude is refined and resold around the world by Indian profiteers in league with silent Russian partners — while Russia pockets hard currency to fund its war machine in Ukraine. As Russia continues to hammer Ukraine, helped by India’s financial support, American (and European) taxpayers are then forced to spend tens of billions more to help Ukraine’s defence.”

US trade delegation’s visit ‘halted’

The India visit of a US trade delegation scheduled for later this month has been ‘halted’, The Indian Express had reported.

The deal has been stuck over India’s long-standing stance of protecting farmers in every trade agreement. The US, under Trump, is prioritising market access for its agricultural products, the report added.

Asked about trade agreements waiting to be completed, Bessent had said India had been “a bit recalcitrant” in talks with the United States.