‘Opportunistic, corrosive’: India’s oil trade with Russia is funding Moscow in Ukraine war, says Trump's top trade adviser

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has launched a sharp attack on India over its energy and defence ties with Russia, warning that Washington would “hit India where it hurts” unless New Delhi changes course.

Yet, in what critics call a selective and hypocritical move, Washington has avoided targeting China, the largest importer of Russian crude.

In a strongly worded opinion piece for the Financial Times, Navarro called India’s oil trade with Moscow “opportunistic” and “corrosive” to global efforts to isolate Russia’s economy.

US’s selective outrage: Washington’s imports from Russia is rising

Yet even as US President Donald Trump tries to dictate his tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, Washington’s own trade with Moscow is rising. Between January and May 2025, US imports from Russia jumped 23 per cent to $2.1 billion, mainly in fertilisers, uranium and palladium – a contradiction critics describe as American hypocrisy.

Navarro, a former economics professor who became one of Trump’s key trade strategists, linked India’s “high” tariffs and Russian oil purchases, claiming that dollars earned through trade with America were being funnelled into Moscow’s war chest.

India is ‘cozying up to both Russia and China’

“India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” he wrote. He accused New Delhi of “cozying up to both Russia and China” and warned, “If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one.”

Navarro argued that India’s role was directly aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine, “As Russia continues to hammer Ukraine, helped by India’s financial support, American (and European) taxpayers are then forced to spend tens of billions more to help Ukraine’s defence. Meanwhile, India keeps slamming the door on American exports through high tariffs and trade barriers.”

Deal stuck on agri, dairy, and MSME sectors

His remarks come amid stalled trade talks, with India resisting US demands to open up its agriculture, dairy and MSME sectors under a proposed free trade deal.

On 30 July, Trump announced punitive tariffs of 25 per cent on Indian exports to the US, followed by another 25 per cent levy linked to Russian oil purchases, due to take effect next week. India’s foreign ministry has dismissed the measures as “unreasonable” and “extremely unfortunate.”

A silence on China

Though China is the largest buyer of Russian oil, Washington has stayed largely silent on Beijing’s role.

Marco Rubio acknowledged that imposing secondary sanctions on China for refining Russian crude could drive global energy prices higher. He instead defended the decision to penalise India with additional tariffs over its imports from Moscow, while giving Beijing a longer reprieve. He noted that much of the oil bought by China is refined and sold into the global market, and sanctions could disrupt supplies and push up costs.