Navarro slams India's Russian oil purchases as 50% tariffs loom

Malcolm Scott, Bloomberg News on Aug 21, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

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.”

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 U.S. 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.

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.

(Lauren Dezenski and Sudhi Ranjan Sen contributed.)