White House trade adviser Peter Navarro sharply criticized India for continuing to purchase Russian oil, warning that punitive tariffs of 50 per cent on Indian imports are expected to take effect as scheduled next week. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Navarro said, “I see that taking place. India doesn’t appear to want to recognise its role in the bloodshed. It simply doesn’t. It’s cozying up to Xi Jinping, is what it’s doing.”
The remarks mark the latest salvo from the trade hawk, following India’s decision to maintain its Russian oil purchases, a move that preserves a crucial market for Moscow. In response to the steep 50 per cent levy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government reaffirmed its long-standing ties with Russia while also working to ease tensions with regional rival China in recent days.
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India has significantly increased its imports of Russian crude, despite a $60-per-barrel price cap imposed by the Group of Seven nations designed to restrict Kremlin energy revenue. The Trump administration argues that these purchases indirectly finance Russia’s war efforts, with the planned 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods ranking among the highest imposed on any country.
Navarro added, “They don’t need the oil. It’s a refining profit-sharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin. That’s the reality of that. Look, Modi is a great leader. But please, please India, like, look at what is, what your role here is in the global economy and good here. It’s like, what you’re doing right now is not creating peace, it’s perpetuating the war.”
The comments prompted fluctuations in oil prices during a volatile trading session. India currently accounts for approximately 37 per cent of Russia’s oil exports, according to Moscow-based Kasatkin Consulting.
India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, speaking in Moscow, expressed frustration over U.S. threats, stating, “We are a country where actually the Americans said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilize the world energy markets, including buying oil from Russia.”
President Trump has already signed an executive order specifying that the tariff increase will take effect at 50 per cent beginning at 12:01 a.m. Washington time on August 27.
Despite Navarro’s stern warning, investor sentiment remains skeptical about whether the additional 25 per cent tariff will be implemented. A Nomura survey of 144 respondents found that nearly half believed there was less than a 40 per cent chance of the increase going into effect, according to economists Sonal Varma and Aurodeep Nandi.