'India an important ally': Rubio says Trump weighing impact of Russia-related tariffs

The United States will consider India’s energy needs and the strategic partnership with New Delhi before deciding on tariffs and sanctions targeting countries importing Russian oil, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday, as per an ANI report.

This comes a day after President Donald Trump waived several provisions of a proposed sanctions law.

Also Read: What is holding up the US-India trade deal?


Rubio described India as an important US ally and said Trump wanted to use a 60-day window to assess the economic implications of imposing the measures.

The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act would have allowed the US to impose tariffs of up to 100% on goods imported from the five largest buyers of Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas, including India and China. Trump has temporarily waived the relevant provisions to assess their potential impact on the global and US economies.

“India, for example, that have voluntarily diversified their energy portfolio, but are still getting a substantial amount of energy from Russia because it's hard to pivot from one day to the next,” Rubio said.

He added that India remained an important partner of the US and that Washington needed time to determine the appropriate course of action.

Rubio also cited mounting pressure on global energy supplies amid geopolitical tensions, including the Ukraine war, attacks on energy infrastructure and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, the report showed.

These developments, he said, had implications for global energy prices and needed to be considered while evaluating the proposed measures.

Also Read: US' Russia sanction waiver a relief for India's exporters, energy security: Experts

On Friday, Trump invoked Section 115 of the Graham Act to waive the application of duties under Sections 112 and 113, saying he had certified to Congress that the decision was in the national interest of the US.

The provisions would have authorised duties of up to 500% on goods imported from Russia and up to 100% on goods from the five largest importers of Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas.

Rubio is scheduled to visit India this month, including Jamnagar, home to one of the world’s largest refineries.