US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday criticised India's trade posture and its continued imports of sanctioned Russian oil, stating that New Delhi has frustrated American efforts at a deal and "has not been a great global actor."
"Well, I don't know what's going to happen," Bessent told CNBC when asked what will now happen to the US-India trade deal after President Donald Trump's series of comments against India. "It'll be up to India. They came to the table early, but they've been slow-rolling things. So I think the president and the whole trade team have been frustrated with them. Also, India has been a large buyer of sanctioned Russian oil, which they then resell as refined products.
So, they have not been a great global actor."Bessent's comments come against the backdrop of escalating US-India trade tensions, triggered by Trump's announcement of a 25% tariff on all Indian imports starting August 1, along with a separate penalty for India's continued purchases of Russian crude and military equipment.
Trump made some critical comments against India in a series of posts and called India a 'dead economy'. "We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world," he added, "I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.
"India, the world's third-largest oil importer, is currently the second-biggest buyer of Russian crude after China. Its Russian oil imports have surged from under 1% before the Ukraine war to nearly 40% of total purchases today.
Trump's administration has also imposed sanctions on six Indian firms for their role in trading Iranian-origin petrochemical products. "Any country or person who chooses to purchase Iranian oil or petrochemicals exposes themselves to the risk of U.S. sanctions," the State Department said on Wednesday.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal directly countered Trump's "dead economy" charge, saying, "India is the world's fastest-growing major economy and will soon become the third largest." Goyal added that international institutions and economists "see India as the bright spot in the global economy."
"In just over a decade, India has rapidly transformed from being one of the Fragile 5 to the fastest-growing major economy in the world," he said, crediting structural reforms, MSMEs, and entrepreneurs. "We have risen from the 11th largest economy to one of the top 5 economies."
The minister also cited India's expanding network of trade deals, including agreements with the UAE, UK, Australia and EFTA. "We are committed to similar trade agreements with other countries,” Goyal said.