New York, February 19 A senior US lawmaker has said that President Donald Trump is "looking for excuses" to "impose outrageous tariffs" on India for purchasing Russian oil, urging him to reverse this policy immediately.
"President Trump is looking for excuses to impose outrageous tariffs on #India," Congressman Brad Sherman said in a social media post on Wednesday.
Sherman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the House Financial Services Committee, said in the post that Trump claims the tariffs on India are about importing Russian oil.
"However, Hungary imports 90% of its crude from Russia without any tariffs. And China, Russia's biggest oil buyer, hasn't been hit with sanctions related to purchasing Russian oil, although it has been targeted for other reasons."
"India only gets 21% of its crude from Russia, but our ally is being singled out. The President should reverse this policy immediately," Sherman said.
Earlier this month, the US and India announced that they had reached a framework for an interim agreement on trade, with Trump issuing an executive order removing the 25% punitive tariffs imposed on India for its purchases of Russian oil.
The US president noted the commitment by New Delhi to stop directly or indirectly importing energy from Moscow and purchasing American energy products.
Under the trade deal, Washington will charge a reduced reciprocal tariff on New Delhi, lowering it from 25% to 18%.