India should halt purchases of Russian crude oil as the trade undermines efforts to isolate Moscow, the White House trade adviser Peter Navarro wrote in an op-ed published in the Financial Times on Monday.
The world’s third-largest crude oil importer, India, has significantly boosted Russian oil imports since 2022, when Russia’s oil was banned in the West. Russia currently accounts for about a third of India’s oil purchases, becoming the single largest crude supplier to India.
“India’s dependence on Russian crude is opportunistic and deeply corrosive of the world’s efforts to isolate Putin’s war economy,” Navarro wrote.
“In effect, India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” the Trump Administration’s official wrote.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order enacting an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, explicitly targeting India’s ongoing imports of Russian crude oil. The overall 50% tariff on Indian goods will take effect 21 days after August 6.
The U.S. and India have been trying to negotiate a trade deal, but a planned meeting for next week has been called off, sources told Reuters this weekend. This could delay an agreement and erase hopes that the steep U.S. tariff on imports of Indian goods could be reduced soon.
In the op-ed in FT, Navarro slammed India’s high tariffs, “along with a dense web of non-tariff barriers that punish American workers and businesses” and have led to a massive U.S. trade deficit with India.
“And here’s the kicker: India is using those US trade dollars to buy Russian oil,” Navarro said.
Indian state-owned refiners are waiting for government guidance on how to proceed with Russian oil purchases, but many have started to source alternative supplies following the U.S. tariff threats.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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