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Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised that his country would stop buying Russian oil, in a move that could help ease trade tensions between the two nations.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that Modi pledged in a phone call earlier in the day to halt the purchases, over which Washington had imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff in August. The levy applied on top of Trump’s 25 per cent so-called reciprocal tariff.
“I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia,” Trump said. “That’s a big step. Now I’ve got to get China to do the same thing.”
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, India imported only a small amount of Russian crude oil but has since become its largest buyer.
On Wednesday, Trump said Modi could not stop buying the oil “immediately”, but that a “process had started”.
The international oil benchmark Brent moved slightly higher on Wednesday after Trump’s comments.
The promise from Modi may unlock tariff relief from Washington and break a stalemate in trade talks between the two nations that has held firm since the summer.
While several large US trading partners have managed to strike deals with the Trump administration to lower the punitive tariffs on their goods, India has so far failed to clinch any agreement.
The combination of the “reciprocal” tariff of 25 per cent and an additional 25 per cent tariff to retaliate for Russian oil purchases has left many Indian exports to the US facing a 50 per cent tariff. That has made India among the worst-hit of countries in Trump’s second-term trade war, despite exemptions for many of its critical industries.
Semiconductors, consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals are currently offered a carve-out from the reciprocal tariffs, as they may face a different set of duties from the US at a later time.
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