Trump and Senator Lindsey Graham warns about 500% tariffs on countries like India who continued to buy Russian oil
Los Angeles/Jan 06, 2026
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh
US president Donald Trump again warned India over its purchase of Russian crude, declaring that Washington could impose higher trade tariffs if Delhi did not further curb imports from Moscow.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said:
- US sanctions and tariff pressure had sharply reduced India’s purchase of Russian oil.
- I support the legislation that we should allow tariffs of up to 500% on countries like India that continued to buy Russian oil.
If you are buying cheap Russian oil, you keep Putin’s war machine going,” Lindsey Graham, adding the aim was to give the president “the ability to make that a hard choice by tariffs”.
- Mr Trump’s actions were the main reason India was now buying “substantially less Russian oil”.
Mr Trump said:
- We could raise tariffs on India if they don’t help on the Russian oil issue.
- India had already taken steps to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies, framing the move as an effort to align with Washington’s expectations.
- Mr Trump also said that they wanted to make me happy, basically
- PM Modi’s a very good man.
- He’s a good guy, but he knew that I was not happy. It was important to make me happy. They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly.
Last year, Mr Trump announced tariffs on Indian goods about 50 percent.
Mr Trump claimed:
- Mr Modi had promised to stop importing Russian oil, a claim Delhi denied at the time.
- Mr Trump had been repeatedly insisting that the call took place and warned that India would face “massive tariffs” if it continued buying Russian crude,
- while India said at the time that talks were ongoing and that its oil buys served national economic interests.
- Trade experts and Ajay Srivastava, founder of trade warn, however, that New Delhi’s cautious approach risks weakening its position.
- On Monday, Indian markets reacted with the information technology stock index (.NIFTYIT), opens new tab falling about 2.5% to its lowest in more than a month, as investors worried that strained trade relations could further delay a U.S.-India trade deal.
- Indian oil purchases from Russia had dropped significantly in recent months. But data from the Indian government showed the imports rose to a six-month high in November 2025, according to the local news paper The Hindu.
According the Delhi News media:
- New Delhi seeks to clinch a trade deal with Washington, the government has asked refiners for weekly disclosures of Russian and U.S. oil purchases to address U.S. concerns.
- Since the tariffs were imposed, Modi has spoken to Trump at least three times but no solution.
- India's officials met U.S. trade officials last month, but talks remain unresolved.
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