US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that Washington is actively working to resolve the “sanctions situation” with India regarding its continued purchase of Russian oil, even as punitive tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump remain in effect. Speaking to NBC News, Rubio expressed frustration at European countries' continued purchases of large quantities of Russian energy, calling it “absurd,” and pointed to India as a major focus of the Biden administration’s efforts to curb energy trade with Moscow.
“We’ve already seen the measures we’ve taken about India, although that’s something we hope we can fix,” Rubio said. “And the President can do more, and he’s considering doing more because of the direction this has taken.”
Rubio was referring to the 25 per cent punitive tariff imposed by President Trump last month on Indian imports - a move that effectively doubled total US tariffs on India to 50 per cent. The White House has maintained that the measure is aimed at pressuring India to scale back its energy ties with Russia, especially as the West seeks to isolate Moscow economically over its war in Ukraine.
In a separate interview with ABC News, Rubio confirmed that ongoing trade talks with India are heavily focused on the Russian oil issue. “We had meetings with them again yesterday, and it has to do with their purchase of Russian oil,” he said, adding that there has been “a lot of progress.”
The trade discussions come amid a renewed diplomatic push by New Delhi and Washington. India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is currently in the U.S. to accelerate negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement, following high-level engagements between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump over the past month.
While the U.S. is pressing India to reduce its dependency on Russian energy, other contentious issues remain on the table - including Washington’s demand that India open up its agriculture and dairy markets to American companies, which New Delhi continues to reject as a red line.
Rubio did not clarify whether the Trump administration’s recent move to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas - which disproportionately affects Indian engineers and tech professionals - was part of the bilateral conversation.
Despite rising tensions, Prime Minister Modi has opted for a restrained response, avoiding confrontation with Trump. Instead, he has intensified calls for “swadeshi” or domestically produced goods, widely interpreted as an attempt to reduce India’s reliance on foreign imports - including those from the U.S.
The diplomatic and economic dialogue between the world’s two largest democracies comes at a critical time, as both nations navigate their strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific, balance relations with Russia and China, and attempt to finalize a trade agreement that could significantly boost bilateral commerce, currently valued at $191 billion, to a target of $500 billion by 2030.