US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warns of higher tariffs on India
Bessent warns of higher secondary tariffs on India if Trump's talks with Russian counterpart Putin in Alaska fail
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that the Trump administration can increase the secondary tariffs on India if the scheduled talks between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on Friday fail.
The latest tariff warning from the US comes days after Trump slapped a 25 per cent punitive tariff on Indian goods for New Delhi’s purchase of Russian crude oil, which he alleged is funding Russia’s war in Ukraine. However, New Delhi has made it clear that its actions would only be guided by its economic interests.
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‘Tariffs can go up’
“I think everyone has been frustrated with President Putin. We expected that he would come to the table in a more fulsome way. It looks like he may be ready to negotiate, and we have put secondary tariffs on Indians for buying Russian oil, and I could see if things don’t go well, then sanctions and secondary tariffs could go up,” Bessent told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.
Bessent also took a dig at the European countries for their alleged reluctance to join the US in imposing such secondary sanctions, saying even as Trump is going to meet Putin, the Europeans were still being non-committal in imposing secondary sanctions.
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Europeans should impose sanctions
“When President Trump is meeting with President Putin, and Europeans are on the wings carping about how he should do it and what he should do. But the Europeans need to join us in these sanctions. The European’s need to be willing to put on these secondary sanctions,” he said.
Asked whether the US would impose similar secondary sanctions on China for buying Russian oil, Bessent did not give any specific answer but only said that Trump would make it clear to President Putin that all options were on the table.
“Again I am not going get ahead of the President. But the President is the best for creating leverage for him and he will make it clear to President Putin that all options are on the table,” he said.
Sanctions can go up. They can be loosened. They can have a definitive life. They can go on definitively. There is this Russian shadow fleet of ships around the world. I think we can crack down on them,” he added.