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Navarro Slams India Over Russian Oil as 50% Tariffs Loom

(Bloomberg) -- White House trade adviser Peter Navarro blasted India for continuing to buy Russian oil and said he expects punitive tariffs of 50% on imports from the South Asian nation to kick in as planned next week.

“I see that taking place,” Navarro told reporters in front of the White House when asked about the tariffs on India that are set to double on Aug. 27. “India doesn’t appear to want to recognize its role in the bloodshed. It simply doesn’t. It’s cozying up to Xi Jinping, is what it’s doing.”

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The fresh salvo is the latest from the trade hawk and comes after India has signaled it’ll keep buying Russian oil, a step that would preserve a vital market for Moscow. Stung by the steep 50% levy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has reiterated its long-standing friendship with Russia and moved to ease tensions with regional rival China in recent days.

India has ramped up oil imports from Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, when Group of Seven nations imposed a $60-per-barrel price cap on Moscow’s crude that aimed to limit the Kremlin’s energy revenue. The Trump administration sees those purchases as helping fund Russia’s war, with 50% tariffs on Indian goods set to be among the highest on any country’s products.

“They don’t need the oil. It’s a refining profit sharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin. That’s the reality of that,” Navarro said. “Look, Modi is a great leader. But please, please India, like, look at what is, 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.”

Oil advanced in a choppy session after the comments.

India accounts for 37% of Russia’s oil exports, according to Moscow-based Kasatkin Consulting.

India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in Moscow on Thursday that his government is “perplexed” by the US threats and criticism of the purchases of Russian crude. “We are a country where actually the Americans said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilize the world energy markets, including buying oil from Russia.”

Trump has already signed the executive order specifying that tariff increases on India would take effect at 50% at 12:01 a.m. Washington time on Aug. 27.

Despite the lashing against India, many investors are skeptical the US will follow through with an additional 25% tariff. In a Nomura survey of 144 respondents, nearly half believed there’s less than a 40% chance of implementation, economists Sonal Varma and Aurodeep Nandi wrote in a note Friday. “This suggests a prevailing view that some form of resolution or delay is more likely than actual implementation,” they said. The economists expect the 25% reciprocal tariff to remain in place through the current fiscal year ending March, while the additional 25% penalty to likely stay effective until November.

In the face of Trump’s broadsides, which include saying India’s economy is “dead,” New Delhi has been seeking to improve relations with Beijing. The two sides this week agreed to explore demarcating their disputed border after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrapped up a two-day visit.

“China firmly stands with India to uphold the multilateral trading system and safeguard international fairness and justice,” Xu Feihong, China’s ambassador to India, wrote in a post on X.

--With assistance from Lauren Dezenski, Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Anup Roy and Diksha Madhok.

(Updates with a Nomura survey on chances of tariffs implementation)