India and Europe were essentially underwriting Russia’s war on Ukraine, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday, adding that India is committed to a trade deal with the US and has already begun cutting off purchases of Russian energy products.
File photo of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. (HT_PRINT)Also read: Indian goods are no longer subject to an additional 25% duty, informs US Customs rules
on India-US trade agreementJamison said in an interview with Fox Business that India has ‘started backing up buying of energy from American energy and other sources’. “We talked to them about Venezuelan oil,” Jamieson said.
“Remember the Indians didn’t really procure Russian oil before 2022. This is really the reality of the Russia-Ukraine war industry and the discount oil they can get. Remember they will get oil from Russia, refine it and sell the gas to the Europeans. India and Europe were basically underwriting Russia’s war on Ukraine, the deal India is now committed to,” he said.
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“They’ve already started to extend some of their commitments on procurement. They’ve lowered some of the digital services tax we have. They’re lowering tariffs. It’s going to be a very important deal and it’s going to be a commitment for many years to come,” Jamieson said.
India-US Trade Agreement on Russian OilUS President Donald Trump announced this last week 500 billion USD trade dealThere is a condition with India that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to stop buying Russian oil. India’s energy trade deal with Russia led the US to impose 25% punitive tariffs on India last year.
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In a post on his Truth social account, Trump said he had spoken to Prime Minister Modi and added that the two leaders had agreed on a trade deal, under which the US would reduce India’s tariffs from 25% to 18%.
Trump also claimed that PM Modi had “agreed to stop buying Russian oil and buy more from the US and possibly Venezuela”.
The US President said Prime Minister Modi is committed to “buy American” at an even higher level, in addition to $500 billion in US energy, technology, agriculture and coal.
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“Our relationship with India will only get stronger going forward. Prime Minister Modi and I are two people who get things done, something that cannot be said for most,” Trump wrote. Days later, Trump signed an executive order eliminating punitive tariffs on India for energy trade with Russia as Trump reiterated that India would stop buying oil from Russia.
“Specifically, India has committed to stop importing oil directly or indirectly from the Russian Federation, has represented that it will purchase US energy products from the United States, and has recently committed to a framework with the United States to expand defense cooperation over the next 10 years,” the executive order said.
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What India saidCommerce Minister Piyush Goyal referred the question of India’s position on buying Russian oil to the Ministry of External Affairs which in its first comment said that India will continue to keep its 1.4 billion population as a top priority, especially in the current international dynamics in the energy sector.
“So far India’s energy security or source has been ensured, the government has publicly, including me here on several occasions, said that ensuring energy security of 1.4 billion is the highest priority of the government,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press briefing.
