Trump imposed ‘sanctions’ on India to end Ukraine conflict – White House

US President Donald Trump imposed “sanctions” on India earlier this month as a part of his measures to end the conflict in Ukraine, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.

Leavitt was referring to the US imposition of an additional 25% punitive tariff on the South Asian nation which will take effect on August 27 over its continued purchase of Russian oil.

“Look, the president has put tremendous public pressure to bring this war to a close,” she said. “He’s taken actions, as you’ve seen, sanctions on India and other actions as well. He has made himself very clear that he wants to see this war end.”

The 25% tariffs on India for its purchases of Russian crude come in addition to the 25% duty slapped on imports from the South Asian nation after New Delhi and Washington were unable to finalize a trade deal earlier this month.

India has strongly condemned the tariffs as “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable,” and has vowed to protect its national interests.

Leavitt’s statement on Tuesday came hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused India of “profiteering” by buying Russian crude and reselling it.

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When asked by a CNBC reporter why the US was not imposing extra tariffs on China for its purchases of Russian oil, Bessent said Beijing’s imports are “sub-optimal.”

He added, “If you go back and look to 2022, pre-invasion, 13% of China’s oil was already coming from Russia, now it’s 16, so China has a diversified input of their oil. If you go back and look now, I believe India had less than 1% of their oil (from Russia) and now I believe it’s up to 42%.”

Bessent said some of the richest families in India made $16 billion in excess profits by refining and reselling Russian crude. “What I would call the Indian arbitrage, buying cheap Russian oil, reselling as a product has just sprung up during the war, which is unacceptable,” he added.