Trump has slapped higher tariffs despite India buying more oil, gas from US

New Delhi: While US President Donald Trump has slapped a 50 per cent tariff on Indian exports, he appears to have quite overlooked the fact that India has also sharply increased its purchases of oil and gas from America. This, in turn, has led to a reduction in India’s trade surplus with the US, which is a major aim of the Trump administration’s trade policy.

Official figures show that India’s oil and gas imports from the US have jumped by as much as 51 per cent from January to June this year. The country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the US nearly doubled to $2.46 billion in the financial year 2024-25 from $1.41 billion in 2023-24.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured in February that India would increase energy imports from the US to $25 billion in 2025 from $15 billion in 2024 to help reduce the trade deficit of the US. This was followed by Government-owned Indian oil and gas companies entering into discussions for more long-term energy purchases from the US companies. New Delhi has also made it clear that it was diversifying its sources of energy imports to reduce dependence on Russian oil.

India has pointed out that it has been buying Russian oil as no sanctions had been imposed on such purchases that were less than the price cap imposed by the G7 nations. It was, in fact, part of the US policy to allow such purchases, as more oil in the market would prevent prices from soaring in the international market. Moreover, purchases at low prices also helped to restrict Russia’s earnings.

India has also pointed out that the US still continues to buy fertilisers, chemicals, uranium and palladium from Russia.

Meanwhile, New Delhi has made it clear that India and the US share a very important strategic relationship that goes beyond trade.

The government has stated that India-US ties are multi-layered and trade is “only one aspect” of a “very important relationship” that also rests on geopolitical and strategic considerations.

The government has also informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs that there is no change of plans for the sixth round of India-US talks, which might lead to a trade agreement between the two countries.

IANS