Who is Peter Navarro, Trump’s adviser who has called India 'Maharaj in Tariff'?

Peter Navarro, White House trade adviser and one of the strongest proponents of protectionism in Washington, is once again targeting India, accusing New Delhi of running what he calls a “profiteering scheme” through its oil trade with Russia.

Speaking to reporters, Navarro charged that India had dramatically shifted its energy purchases since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India virtually bought no Russian oil… It was like almost one per cent of their need. The percentage has now gone up to 35 per cent,” Navarro said.

In his view, India’s refining industry is buying crude from Moscow at steep discounts, turning it into products such as diesel and petrol, and then selling them abroad at higher margins.

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“They get chip Russian oil and make refined products which they sell at premium prices in Europe, Africa and Asia. It is purely profiteering by the Indian refining industry,” he declared.

Navarro warned that the money used to buy oil from Russia is indirectly fuelling the war in Ukraine, “The Russians use the money to build arms and kill Ukrainians and Americans tax-payers have to provide more aid and military hardware to Ukrainians. That’s insane.”

His comments reflect Washington’s growing unease with New Delhi’s position in the ongoing energy realignment.

Navarro added that India was “now cozying up to both Russia and China,” warning that such moves placed strain on the strategic partnership the United States has tried to cultivate with India.

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“If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one,” he wrote in an opinion article for the Financial Times on August 18.

What is Navarro’s defence against India?

Navarro’s remarks after US President Donald Trump’s announcement of new trade penalties on India.

Earlier this month, Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent duty on Indian imports, taking total tariffs to 50 per cent. He justified the move on New Delhi’s continued oil trade with Russia. The duties are among the steepest levied on any US trade partner in recent years.

“India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” Navarro argued.

“What is the net impact on Americans because of our trade with India? They are Maharaj in tariff, higher non-tariff barriers, massive trade deficit etc and that hurts American workers and American business,” he said.

He also suggested that India’s relations with both Moscow and Beijing make it a risky recipient of advanced US military technology.

These remarks represent a marked escalation in rhetoric against India, especially as China — the world’s largest buyer of Russian crude — has not been subjected to similar tariff penalties.

What is India’s defence vis-à-vis its oil purchases?

New Delhi has repeatedly defended its oil purchases from Russia. Officials maintain that India’s actions are dictated by national interest and market realities.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently reminded critics that it was Washington itself that had earlier asked India to help stabilise global energy supplies by continuing its oil purchases from Moscow after Western sanctions came into effect.

“India does not want to recognise its role in the bloodshed,” Navarro said, while dismissing New Delhi’s reasoning. But Indian policymakers argue that the diversification of suppliers is a sovereign choice in an unpredictable energy landscape.

Data illustrates the rapid transformation in India’s oil sourcing. Russia accounted for just 1.7 per cent of India’s oil imports in 2019-20. By 2024-25, that share had surged to 35.1 per cent, making Moscow India’s largest crude supplier.

Anuj Jain, the finance chief of Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s biggest refiner, recently said the company processed about 24 per cent Russian crude in the June quarter, compared with a 22 per cent average in the previous year.

Jain added that purchases for the September quarter were continuing, with discounts of around $1.50 per barrel compared with the Dubai benchmark, reported Reuters.

How has this affected India-US trade talks?

Relations between Washington and New Delhi have come under further strain as a planned visit by US trade negotiators to India from August 25-29 was cancelled.

The trip was expected to discuss a potential trade agreement and provide India some relief from Trump’s steep tariffs, but its postponement signals a difficult phase ahead.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited New Delhi this week to hold discussions over the disputed border.

This development has only reinforced Navarro’s suspicion that India is drawing closer to Beijing at Washington’s expense.

What do we know about Peter Navarro?

Peter Kent Navarro, born July 15, 1949, a native of Massachusetts, is the son of a musician and a secretary. He studied at Tufts University before pursuing a master’s in public administration and later a PhD in economics from Harvard University.

His doctoral thesis examined corporate philanthropy, far removed from the trade battles he would later fight.

Navarro taught at the University of California, San Diego, and later at the University of California, Irvine, where he spent two decades as a professor of economics and public policy.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, he attempted to enter politics, running unsuccessfully several times for office in San Diego, including mayoral and congressional bids.

In addition to his academic work, Navarro authored several books aimed at investors, such as If It’s Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks, which offered strategies to profit from global economic events.

But it was his turn to writing polemics on China that brought him national attention. Starting in 2006, he published a series of books and documentaries portraying Beijing as a dangerous, expansionist power that manipulated currency, stole intellectual property, and undermined global industry through subsidies and sweatshop practices.

His most notable work, Death by China, became required reading in some circles of the 2016 Trump campaign.

Architect of Trump’s trade wars

Navarro’s entry into national politics came when Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner came across Death by China while researching US-China relations. Navarro was invited to join Trump’s campaign and later became a central voice in shaping its economic policies.

During Trump’s first term, Navarro served as director of the White House National Trade Council and then led the newly created Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.

He became the intellectual driver of Trump’s tariff-heavy agenda, pushing through duties on steel, aluminium, and hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese goods. He argued that tariffs would revive US manufacturing and reduce dependence on imports.

His approach, however, provoked retaliation. China responded with its own tariffs, particularly targeting US agriculture, leading to significant losses for American farmers.

The Trump administration spent $30 billion in compensation to offset these effects. A 2021 study by Oxford Economics and the US-China Business Council concluded that the tariffs cost the US economy 245,000 jobs.

Despite criticism from economists, Navarro stuck to his message. On Fox News he famously insisted, “The message is that tariffs are tax cuts, tariffs are jobs, tariffs for national security, tariffs are great for America.”

He argued that the revenue from duties would enable sweeping tax cuts, claiming, “We’re gonna raise about $100 billion with the auto tariffs alone,” which would then be used to offer tax credits to Americans purchasing domestically produced vehicles.

Pandemic controversies & clashes

Navarro extended his influence into areas beyond trade during Trump’s first term. As the coronavirus pandemic unfolded, he was appointed the national Defence Production Act policy coordinator, tasked with overseeing supply chains for critical goods.

Internally, he warned about the potential severity of the virus, but publicly he often downplayed risks. He pushed for the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment and publicly sparred with Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, over public health measures.

His actions and statements during this period reinforced his reputation as one of the most combative and unconventional voices in the administration.

Prison sentence for defying US Congress

Navarro’s loyalty to Trump extended into the post-2020 election turbulence. He vocally promoted claims that the election had been stolen and worked on strategies to delay certification of results.

His refusal to comply with subpoenas from the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack led to his indictment on two counts of contempt of Congress in 2022.

In 2023, he was convicted, and in 2024, he became the first former White House official to be sentenced to jail for contempt of Congress.

He served four months before re-emerging in politics.

Back in power in Trump 2.0

When Trump returned to the White House in January this year, Navarro was brought back as senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing, once again wielding enormous influence over US trade policy.

Within months, he helped design the administration’s “reciprocal tariff” framework announced in April, alongside new penalties on Canada, Mexico, China and India.

Now 76, Navarro remains committed to his long-held economic nationalism. Even insults from high-profile figures, such as Elon Musk calling him “truly a moron,” have not dented his confidence.

Responding to criticism, Navarro has often shrugged it off: “I’ve been called worse,” he told NBC News, later remarking on another occasion, “It’s no problem,” when asked about Musk’s remarks.

With inputs from agencies