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Is India prepared for Trump's tariff penalty for buying Russian oil? What oil minister Puri had said
With Indian and the US delegations having failed to agree on a trade deal in five rounds of talks and US President Donald Trump's deadline ending on Thursday, tense tariff ties are on the cards at least for the next few weeks.
Trump has announced a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports, and an unannounced amount of penalty for buying Russian oil and gas from Friday. The question that many are asking is this: is India prepared to deal with Trump's enhanced tariff and Russia-linked secondary sanctions?
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The answer recently came from a senior minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet.
Speaking at an event earlier this month, India's Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Firstpost's Managing Editor Palki Sharma that India was prepared to handle US President Donald Trump's tariff threats on Russian oil imports through diversification of supply sources and managing market dynamics.
Puri gave a glimpse of India's preparedness for Trump's tariff penalty on buying Russian oil.
'I'm not worried at all. If something happens, we'll deal with it. India has diversified its sources of supply — we've gone from buying oil from about 27 countries to around 40 now,' said Puri.
'I don't feel any pressure in my mind. India has diversified the sources of supply.'
'India should be able to deal with any problems with Russian imports by seeking supplies from other countries.'
'If any issues arise, we will handle them.'
On market supply: 'The price of crude oil is around $68.5 per barrel and it is expected to remain around the same levels in the months to come. I think it will be somewhere around $65/barrel.'
On the impact of removing Russian oil supplies, Puri said 'There are two possibilities: one, the whole world consumes 10 per cent less — which means some people won't get heating in winter; some won't get air conditioning in summer; some of the transport will stop flying. Or, you start buying more from the remaining 90 per cent [suppliers]. You know what that would do to prices? The prices would skyrocket.'
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