 "India has labelled tariffs levied by the US on goods from the country \"unjustified\" and \"unreasonable\". File image/Reuters")
US President Donald Trump’s White House doubled down on its decision to impose nearly 50 per cent tariffs on India, insisting that the “road to peace (in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war) runs through India”. Last month, the US imposed heavy duties on Indian goods, accusing it of fueling the ongoing war by purchasing oil from Russia.
While speaking to the reporters on Thursday, US President’s trade counsellor Peter Navarro , said he doesn’t expect Trump to extend the timeline on doubling tariffs on India, which will hit the market on August 27, The Times of India reported. Navarro went on to accuse New Delhi of profiteering from transactions with Moscow.
“I love India. Look, [President Narendra] Modi is a great leader. But please, please India, like, look at what your role here is in the global economy and good here. It’s like, what you’re doing right now is not creating peace, it’s perpetuating the war,” Navarro said in the presser.
“They don’t need oil — it’s a refining profiteering scheme,” he added. Navarro claimed that India is “using the money that they get from us when they sell us stuff” to buy Russian oil, which is then processed by refiners, and “they make a bunch of money there.”
He maintained that Russians eventually use the money to build more arms and kill Ukrainians, and in light of this, the American taxpayers have been providing more military aid to the Ukrainians to sustain themselves in the war.
“So that’s insane, and President Trump sees that chessboard beautifully. And you guys need to write about that,” he told the media in Washington, DC. However, many American political commentators have repeatedly called out the fallacy of the White House not acting on China’s larger purchase of Russian oil and the past American encouragement of India buying Russian oil to keep down global oil prices.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsNavarro himself once implicitly conceded to the line of thinking, arguing that Washington cannot do the same with China because Beijing has leverage on Washington, DC.