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The United States has signaled good news for India, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that an additional 25% tariff on New Delhi could be lifted. The remarks come in the wake of a sharp decline in India’s oil imports from Russia.
Trade relations between the two countries came under pressure in August when US President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods and later announced an increase to 50%, including a 25% tariff in response to imports of Russian crude oil.
“Indian purchases by their refineries of Russian oil have collapsed. So that is a success,” Bessent said in an interview with Politico at the World Economic Forum on Friday.
“The tariffs are still on; the 25% tariffs for Russian oil are still on. I would imagine there is a path to take them off,” he said in the interview.
According to Reuters, India’s Russian oil imports fell sharply in December, reaching their lowest level in two years, while OPEC’s (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) share of the country’s oil imports reached an 11-month high.
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Earlier, President Trump warned strategic partner India that tariffs could rise further if it did not reduce its purchases of Russian oil. The United States believes that India’s oil purchases from Russia are helping Moscow finance its war in Ukraine.
Reuters’s reporting contributed to this article.
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