White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro has doubled down on his criticism of India while defending U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on Indian imports.
Navarro, who played a central role in shaping the tariff policy, alleged that India had turned into a “refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin” by purchasing discounted Russian crude, refining it, and exporting petroleum products worldwide. He claimed this practice indirectly funded Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“President Trump’s 50% tariffs on Indian imports are now in effect. This isn’t just about India’s unfair trade—it’s about cutting off the financial lifeline India has extended to Putin’s war machine,” Navarro wrote on X.
According to him, India uses revenues from exports to the U.S. to buy Russian oil, which now accounts for over 30% of its imports—a sharp rise from less than 1% before the Ukraine war. He alleged that India exports more than one million barrels of refined fuel daily, with profits benefiting politically connected business houses and Moscow alike.
“While the United States pays to arm Ukraine, India bankrolls Russia even as it slaps some of the world’s highest tariffs on U.S. goods. We run a $50-billion trade deficit with India—and they’re using our dollars to buy Russian oil. They make a killing and Ukrainians die,” Navarro said.
The trade advisor also accused India of “strategic freeloading” by continuing to purchase Russian weapons while pressing U.S. defense firms for sensitive technology and local manufacturing deals. He insisted the tariff breakdown—25% for unfair trade and 25% for national security—was meant to force India to act more like a strategic partner.
However, Navarro’s sharp remarks appeared selective. He made no reference to China, the largest buyer of Russian oil, and overlooked the fact that U.S.-Russia trade itself has grown by 20% since Trump’s return to office, as acknowledged by President Vladimir Putin at the recent Alaska summit. That meeting ended without concrete outcomes, with the White House later blaming the media for undermining peace efforts.
Concluding his remarks, Navarro asserted: “If India, the world’s largest democracy, wants to be treated like a strategic partner of the U.S., it needs to act like one. The road to peace in Ukraine runs through New Delhi.”