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3d ago

Navarro’s India Broadside Deepens Rift as 50% U.S. Tariffs Take Effect

The White House trade adviser ties India’s Russian oil purchases to war financing, a claim New Delhi rejects.

Peter Navarro, White House senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing, speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, DC.
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Overview

  • Peter Navarro defends the newly effective 50% duties on Indian imports as a mix of penalties for what he calls unfair trade and national security concerns linked to Russia.
  • He has labeled India the “Maharaja of tariffs” and a “laundromat for the Kremlin,” alleging that discounted Russian crude flows and refined-product exports enrich Moscow.
  • Navarro cites figures that India now accounts for over 30% of Russia’s oil exports—about 1.5 million barrels a day—and ships more than 1 million barrels a day of refined fuels.
  • India calls the tariffs unjustified, with former foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup stressing strategic autonomy and stating the country will not be dictated to.
  • Former U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Evan A. Feigenbaum criticizes Navarro as a “loose cannon,” warning the approach risks unraveling decades of U.S.–India progress.