Tariff roll back? US says India sought relief from 25% duties; claims New Delhi ‘buying less Russian oil’

India has urged the US to roll back the additional 25% tariffs, senator Lindsey Graham claimed on Sunday. Graham said that Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the Indian Ambassador to the United States, met him last month to discuss New Delhi’s reduced purchases of Russian oil and asked him to convey the same to the US President Donald Trump, seeking the removal of the additional duties.Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, alongside Trump, the senator said, “I was at the Indian Ambassador’s house a month ago, and all he wanted to talk about was how India is buying less Russian oil. And he asked me to tell the President to relieve the 25% tariff.” These additional duties were imposed by Trump in August last year, alleging that India’s purchase of Russian oil was supporting Moscow’s war machine in Ukraine. With these in effect, the overall duties came to 50%.

Remarks from the US senator came amid renewed trade tensions between the two countries, as Trump has once again threatened India over the continued imports of Russian oil. “PM Modi’s a very good man. He’s a good guy. He knew I was not happy. It was important to make me happy. They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly,” the US president told reporters. Meanwhile, India has maintained a firm stance, defending its energy purchases from Russia, highlighting the need to secure domestic energy supplies.The issue came to light after the recent US strike on Venezuela, the South American oil-producing nation. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at over 303 billion barrels, around 17% of global reserves. The production has, however, fallen to about 1 million barrels per day due to sanctions and underinvestment, according to OPEC.Back in December, Trump and PM Modi held a telephonic conversation, which coincided with the fresh round of negotiations between the two nations. During the call, both leaders highlighted the importance of maintaining momentum in bilateral trade despite ongoing tariff tensions. Just days before the call, Trump had threatened new tariffs on Indian rice imports after a US farmer representative at a White House roundtable raised concerns about alleged dumping by India, China and Thailand