U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that tariffs could go up for India if talks between the U.S. and Russia—which will be held in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday—are not settled favourably. The discussions will be focused on peacefully settling the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“We’ve put secondary tariffs on Indians for buying Russian oil. And I could see, if things don’t go well, then sanctions or secondary tariffs could go up,” said Bessent in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
The Treasury Secretary is referring to the additional 25% tariffs imposed on India for buying Russian oil through a U.S. executive order a week ago, which brings the total tariffs on the South Asian economy to 50%.
India responded shortly after the executive order through an official statement from the Ministry of External Affairs, saying “India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests.”
The rollout of additional tariffs happened after U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that India was buying large portions of Russian oil and selling it for profit.
Scott Bessent says Europeans need to place sanctions as well
Scott Bessent also spoke about European countries in the interview, saying they need to join the U.S. in placing sanctions, instead of speculating on how Trump should handle negotiations with Russian President Putin.
“President Trump is meeting with President Putin. The Europeans are in the wings, harping about how he should do it, what he should do (it), but the Europeans need to join us in these sanctions….they need to be willing to put on these secondary sanctions.”