After Trump, what US Senator said about tariffs on India and its oil purchases from Russia
US Senator Lindsey Graham, who was on Air Force One with President Donald Trump, said that President Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on India because of its oil purchases from Russia.
Graham said, "About a month ago, I was at the Indian ambassador's house, and all he wanted to talk about was how India was now buying less oil from Russia. He also wanted to ask President Trump to reduce the tariffs."
He claimed, "I'm convinced that the stance Trump took with India is the reason India is buying significantly less oil from Russia today."
Earlier, President Trump had reacted to India's oil purchases from Russia.
Trump said, "They wanted to make me happy. Basically, Modi is a very good man. He knew I wasn't happy, and it was important to make me happy."
The US president said that "they trade among themselves," and if India doesn't listen to us, "we can increase tariffs on them very quickly."
The US has already imposed a 50 percent tariff on India, of which 25 percent was imposed as a "penalty" for buying oil from Russia.
India has reduced its imports of crude oil from Russia for the first time since 2021. India's Russian oil imports were approximately 1.77 million barrels per day in November, which decreased to about 1.2 million barrels per day in December. This figure could fall below 1 million barrels per day in the coming months.
The data for January is expected to show a significant drop in India's Russian oil imports. US sanctions against two major Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, came into effect in November 2021, after which India's oil imports from Russia began to decline.