US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticised European countries for failing to impose duties on India while addressing tariffs levied on New Delhi under the Donald Trump administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur virtue-signalling European <\/a>allies refused to do it (impose tariffs) because they wanted to sign this big trade deal with India,\u201d Bessent said in an interview with Politico.<\/p>\n His remarks come amid ongoing negotiations between the European Union (EU) and India on their free trade agreement (FTA), which is likely to conclude on 27 January (Tuesday), according to a Reuters report.<\/p>\n The agreement will likely result in reduced tariffs <\/a>on European cars and wine and an expanded market for the Indian electronics, textiles and chemicals sectors, the report said.<\/p>\n Tensions between the US and its European allies arose over Trump’s <\/a>plans to acquire Greenland. Earlier, the US President threatened to impose tariffs on European countries, then backed down.<\/p>\n Accusations against Europe<\/p>\n Bessent alleged that Europe is financing Russia\u2019s war through the purchase of oil refined in India.<\/p>\n \u201cBut in the ultimate act of irony and stupidity, guess who was buying the refined products from the Indian \u2026.refineries made from Russian oil. the Europeans. They\u2026 are financing the war against themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When questioned about calling the Europeans \u201cstupid\u201d, Bessent <\/a>said, \u201cI said there was an act of stupidity.\u201d<\/p>\n Tariffs on India have been a success, says Bessent<\/p>\n US Treasury Secretary highlighted that there is a \u201cpath\u201d to eliminate the 25% tariff on New Delhi’s imports of Russian oil<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump imposed 50% tariffs on India, including a 25% tariff on its Russian oil purchases, impacting the bilateral relationship.<\/p>\n Describing the tariffs imposed on India as a \u201csuccess,\u201d Bessent said, \u201cWe put 25% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. And the Indian purchases by their refineries of Russian oil have collapsed. So that is a success. The tariffs are still on. The 25% Russian oil tariffs are still on.”<\/p>\n He added, \u201cI would imagine that there is a path to take them off. So that’s a check and a huge success.”<\/p>\n India increased Russian oil imports after Ukraine war, claims Bessent<\/p>\n