America can remove 25 percent additional tariff on India (Photo- Reuters)
PTI, New York. Amid reports that negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European Union and India have reached the final stage, America has indicated to remove the 25 percent tariff imposed on India.
Sanctions imposed on India were termed as "success"
US Finance Minister Scott Besant on Friday said there is scope to remove the 25 per cent tariff imposed on India for buying oil from Russia as India has 'completely stopped' buying oil from Russia. He termed the sanctions imposed on India as a "success".
Trump has imposed 50 percent tariff on India
US President Donald Trump has imposed 50 percent tariff on India, which includes 25 percent tariff on purchase of Russian oil. Due to this there is tension in the bilateral relations between the two countries.
“We imposed a 25 percent tariff on India on buying oil from Russia,” Besant said in an interview. Now the purchase of Russian oil by Indian refineries has completely stopped. This is a success. 25 percent tariffs on Russian oil are still in place.
He further said, “I think there is scope for his removal.” This is a ban and a huge success.'' Bay Saint also criticized Europe for not imposing tariffs on India. "Our ostensible European allies refused to do this (impose tariffs) because they wanted to do this big trade deal with India," he said.
Besant accused India of importing and refining more oil from Russia after the attack on Ukraine. He said, “Before the attack on Ukraine, about two percent or three percent of Indian oil was going to their refineries as Russian oil. After the embargo on Russian oil, it was sold at a very low price and in Indian refineries it increased to 17, 18, 19 percent. Refineries made huge profits.”
Besant accused Europe of funding Russia's war by buying oil refined in India. He said, “The extent of irony and stupidity was reached when European countries bought Russian oil products refined from Indian refineries. They are financing a war against themselves.”
When asked whether she had called the European countries "stupid", Besant said, "I said it was a stupid thing to do."
It is noteworthy that India and the European Union may soon announce the end of negotiations on a free trade agreement. Besant's statement has come at a time when a bill is being discussed in the US Congress which has a provision to impose 500 percent tariff on countries purchasing Russian oil.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says that India is aware of this bill and is closely monitoring the developments.
Besant said that America is reorganizing the global economy. Now trillions of dollars of investment are coming back to America. A lot of revenue is being generated from tariffs. Announcements are being made about the return of factories and manufacturing.
Besant said the "level of hysteria" over Greenland before and during the Davos meeting was completely out of control. It was being driven by media and Europe. During that time various countries made some very unfortunate statements. This exposed some of these countries. Some leaders took off their masks.
Besant said President Trump will visit Beijing in April and Xi Jinping may visit the US in the summer. There is a possibility that the leaders of the two countries may meet four times this year.
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