India taxed, China spared: Marco Rubio defends US' double standards on Russian oil

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Monday that energy prices could rise if the United States imposes secondary sanctions on China for refining Russian oil. The statement follows growing questions over why the U.S. imposed an additional 25% tariff on India for purchasing Russian oil, while taking no similar action against China.

In an interview with Fox News, Rubio said, "If you put secondary sanctions on a country – let’s say you were to go after the oil sales of Russian oil to China. Well, China just refines that oil. That oil is then sold into the global marketplace, and anyone who’s buying that oil would be paying more for it or, if it doesn’t exist, would have to find an alternative source for it."

"So we have heard, when you talk about the Senate bill that was being proposed where there was a hundred percent tariffs on China and India, we did hear from a number of European countries – not in press releases but we heard from them – some concern about what that could mean."


China remains the largest buyer of Russian oil, at about 2 million barrels per day, followed by India and Turkey.

Trump targets Russia

The sanctions debate is unfolding again in the wake of Trump's widely publicised meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. While the summit failed to produce a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine, Trump termed the discussions as productive, rating them a "10 out of 10."

Earlier, the US president claimed that the tariffs imposed on India for purchasing oil from Russia have influenced Moscow's decision to seek a meeting with Washington, as the country was losing its “second largest customer”.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump said, "I think everything has an impact," and claimed that when he told India that "we're going to charge you, because you're dealing with Russia and oil purchases", it "essentially took them out of buying oil from Russia".

No pause on Russian oil

India last week said it has not halted oil purchases from Russia in response to the US President's tariff threat and continues to buy based solely on economic considerations.

Since the steep tariffs are likely to hit the USD 40 billion of non-exempt exports that India does to the US, there has been chatter around stopping or curtailing oil imports from Russia.

However, AS Sahney, Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country's largest oil firm, has clarified that there is "no pause" on Russian oil imports, and India's intent to continue buying Russian oil remains unchanged.

Responding to the US tariffs, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable.