With India and the European Union (EU) at the brink of announcing a historic ‘mother of all deals’ that would come as a big boost for Indian exports, the US appears miffed with the development. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview came down heavily on the EU for finalising a trade deal with India, at a time when negotiations on trade were still underway between India and the US.
In an interview to ABC News, Bessent suggested that the US has “sacrificed” a lot more than the Europeans have in terms of taking steps to bring the Russia-Ukraine conflict to an end.
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“We have put 25% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India,” Bessent said.
‘Financing war against themselves’
Scott Bessent has been a staunch supporter of Donald Trump’s tariff moves on India. Back in August 2025, when just days were left before the additional 25% tairffs on India took effect, Bessent had accused New Delhi of reselling Russian oil and “making billions” out of it.
Taking a similar stand in his latest remarks on the subject, Bessent said in the interview: “The Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products. They are financing the war against themselves.”
Notably, Bessent’s remarks mark a departure from his earlier comments on Trump’s tariffs on India.
In an earlier Politico interview, Bessent had claimed that refineries in India had significantly reduced the purchase of Russian oil, further hinting that the Trump administration could consider lowering the tariffs on India. “The tariffs are still on. I would imagine there is a path to take them off,” Bessent had said, triggering speculation that India may soon see lower tariffs.
However, there hasn’t been any official communication from India over Bessent’s claims.
India-EU trade deal announcement
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal on Monday said that India and the EU have concluded negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and a formal announcement will be made on Tuesday at the 16th India-EU Summit.
The summit talks will be held between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Antonio Costa, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The three leaders were also seen together at the grand Republic Day parade at Delhi’s Kartavya Path on January 26.
The FTA between India and thr EU could come as a big boost for Indian exports such as textiles and jewellery, which are currently impacted by Trump’s 50% tariffs on India. One half of these tariffs were announced in April and the other half was imposed by Donald Trump in August as additional penalty for India’s oil trade with Russia.
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