US President Donald Trump’s punitive 50 per cent tariffs on imports from India were meant to create “aggressive economic leverage” to force Russia to halt its bombing campaign in Ukraine, American Vice President JD Vance has said.
Speaking on NBC News’ Meet the Press, Trump’s number two said he remained confident that the US could still broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, despite setbacks since the American President’s recent meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“Trump has applied aggressive economic leverage, for example, secondary tariffs on India, to try to make it harder for the Russians to get rich from their oil economy,” Vance explained.
Expressing optimism over Washington’s mediation efforts, he added, “We believe we’ve already seen some significant concessions from both sides, just in the last few weeks. He (Trump) tried to make it clear that Russia can be reinvited into the world economy if they stop the killing. But they are going to continue to be isolated if they don’t stop the killing.”
Tariffs on India
Relations between New Delhi and Washington have sharply deteriorated since the Trump administration began targeting India over its imports of discounted crude oil from Russia. Notably, the US has refrained from issuing similar warnings to China and Europe — the largest importers of Russian crude oil and gas respectively, NDTV reported.
Earlier this month, Trump announced that tariffs on Indian products would be raised to 50 per cent, including an additional 25 per cent duty explicitly imposed as punishment for India’s continued Russian oil purchases. Washington argues that New Delhi’s imports are indirectly funding Moscow’s war machine — a claim India strongly denies.
India’s Stand
India has consistently defended its energy procurement, saying decisions are guided purely by market dynamics and national interest. After Western sanctions cut off much of Moscow’s traditional market, Russia began offering crude oil at steep discounts — which India capitalised on to ensure affordable energy supplies.
Responding to American criticism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar struck a defiant tone at an event in New Delhi. “It’s funny to have people who work for a pro-business American administration accusing other people of doing business,” he remarked.
“That’s really curious. If you have a problem buying oil or refined products from India, don’t buy it. Nobody forces you to buy it. But Europe buys, America buys, so you don’t like it, don’t buy it,” Jaishankar added.
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