White House trade advisor Peter Navarro speaks to members of the media near the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 21, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
REUTERS/Nathan Howard
The US is likely to proceed with plans to double India’s tariffs to 50 per cent on August 27, as New Delhi imposes `Maharaj’ tariffs that harm American businesses and is helping perpetuate Russia’s war on Ukraine by refining its oil, White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro has said.
“I see that (doubling of India’s tariffs on August 27) taking place. India does not appear to want to recognise its role in the bloodshed….The argument that they need Russian oil to cool their homes and drive their cars is nonsense,” Navarro told reporters on Thursday, lashing out against India the second time this week.
Navarro: “Road to peace runs through New Delhi”
He also placed the onus of ending the Ukraine war partly on India and said that, in many ways, the road to peace with Ukraine ran through Delhi. “They (India) use the money that they get from us when they sell us stuff to buy Russian oil which is then processed by refiners and they make a bunch of money here. But then Russians use the money to build more arms to kill Ukrainians…President trump sees that…In many ways the road to peace runs through New Delhi,” he said. Navarro accused India of “cosying up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping as well.
India’s Russian oil imports surge to 30-35%
He noted that prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India virtually bought no Russian oil, which was about one per cent of their need, but the percentage has now gone up to 30-35%,” he said.
The trade advisor added that India did not need this oil and had become part of Russia’s refining profiteering scheme. “It is a laundromat for the Kremlin…Look at what your (India’s) role is in the global economy. What you are doing right now is not creating peace, it is perpetuating war,” he said.
US slams India’s “Maharaj tariffs” on goods
Criticising India’s high tariffs on goods and its non-tariff barriers, Navarro said that the net impact on Americans because of the country’s trade with India has not been positive. “They are Maharaj in tariff. (We have) higher non-tariff barriers, massive trade deficit etc — and that hurts American workers and American businesses,” he said.
The US has already imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India on August 7, which is slightly higher but comparable to those imposed on competing countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, which have been hit with 19-20 per cent tariffs.
Published on August 22, 2025
