‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it’: EAM S Jaishankar on US threat to impose 500% tariff on countries buying Russian oil; says concerns conveyed
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday expressed “concerns” over the US threat to impose a 500 per cent tariff on countries buying products from Russia.“Regarding Senator Lindsey Graham’s bill, any development which is happening in the US Congress is of interest to us if it impacts our interest or could impact our interest,” Jaishankar said in a press conference in Washington, DC.“Our concerns and our interests on energy, security have been made conversant to him (Lindsey Graham). So we’ll then have to cross that bridge when we come to it. If we come to it.”This comes after a Republican Senator Lindson confirmed that US President Donald Trump has approved the introduction of a bill that would impose a 500 per cent tariff on countries continuing to trade with Russia, including India and China.Also read – US plans ‘economic bunker buster’ bill: Will Donald Trump impose 500% tariff on countries importing oil from Russia? How it may impact India“If you’re buying products from Russia, and you’re not helping Ukraine, then there’s a 500 per cent tariff on your products coming into the United States. India and China buy 70 per cent of Putin’s oil. They keep his war machine going,” Lindson said in an interview with ABC News.He added, “My bill has 84 co-sponsors. It would allow the president to put tariffs on China and India and other countries to get them — stop them from supporting Putin’s war machine, to get him to the table.”Graham has actively been advocating for the legislation, cautioning that it would serve as an “economic bunker buster” for nations such as India and China, which have substantially enhanced their imports of Russian petroleum products.
How will it impact India?
India significantly changed its oil buying patterns after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.India shifted from its usual Middle Eastern oil suppliers to buying more from Russia, taking advantage of lower prices caused by Western sanctions and European bans. In May, India received 1.96 million barrels of oil per day from Russia. This change in import strategy led to Russian oil rising from under 1 per cent to about 40–44 per cent of India’s total crude imports in a short span.
