Amid Trump's 25% tariffs on India, Scott Bessent says US trade team 'frustrated' over trade negotiations

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the American trade team is “frustrated” over negotiations with India, describing it as “slow-rolling things”. While speaking to CNBC, Bessent argued that while the negotiations started with New Delhi early, it has become an annoyance to American counterparts.

Bessent expressed his frustration with India, just days after US President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, describing it as “penalties” for buying oil and military equipment from Russia. In the CNBC interview, Bessent argued that Trump and the whole trade negotiation team have been frustrated with India.

“India has also been a big buyer of Russian oil, which they then resell as refined products.” In that context, “they have not been a great global actor,” he remarked. When asked if there is any potential for further negotiations with India ahead of the August 1 deadline, Bessent said that “it will be up to India,” hinting at the fact that it will be New Delhi, which will have to make the first move for things to roll again.

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India awaits more clarity

Meanwhile, sources close to the matter told CNBC-TV18 that India is unlikely “to jump the gun” before more clarity emerges on the matter. New Delhi is also waiting for confirmation on the exact penalties or associated duties which Trump has warned about its ties with Russia.

Amidst this chaos, the sixth round of negotiations for the first tranche of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between India and the US remains scheduled for August 25. Meanwhile, discussions on bilateral trade are expected to continue in virtual mode.

Soon after the Trump announcement, Union Minister Piyush Goyal briefed the Parliament today on the US tariffs, explaining that the commerce ministry is assessing the impact of the tariffs. Goyal assured that the government will take all necessary steps to safeguard “our national interests”.

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The Trump administration is miffed with New Delhi

Bessent is not the only top Trump official who expressed frustration over Trump-India ties. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended President Donald Trump’s move to impose 25 per cent tariffs on India, arguing that India’s purchase of Russian oil is a “ point of irritation” in New Delhi’s relationship with Washington, DC.

While speaking to Fox Radio on Thursday, Rubio said that the Indian purchases of Russian oil are helping Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine. “Look, global trade – India is an ally. It’s a strategic partner. Like anything in foreign policy, you’re not going to align 100 per cent of the time on everything,” Rubio said in the interview.

The secretary of state claimed that the Trump administration is “disappointed” with India as it continues to buy Russian military equipment and energy. Rubio acknowledged India has “huge energy needs and that includes the ability to buy oil and coal and gas and things that it needs to power its economy like every country does, and it buys it from Russia, because Russian oil is sanctioned and cheap and – meaning they have to – in many cases, they’re selling it under the global price because of the sanctions.”

However, he noted that “it is helping to sustain the Russian war effort. So it is most certainly a point of irritation in our relationship with India, not the only point of irritation. We also have many other points of cooperation with them." “But I think what you’re seeing the President express is the evident frustration that with so many other oil vendors available, India continues to buy so much from Russia, which in essence is helping to fund the war effort,” and allowing this war to continue in Ukraine.

Trump tariffs against India are now being seen as a pressure tactic to get New Delhi to agree to demands made by the US, which has, in recent days, got favourable trade deals with major partners like Japan, the UK and the European Union.