India is continuously increasing the import of Russian oil bypassing the pressure of American tariffs. India imported crude oil of about 2.9 billion euros from Russia in August, which is almost equal to China’s 3.1 billion euro imports. This information has been revealed in a report by Finland’s Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. The funny thing is that India’s crude oil imports in July were of 2.7 billion euros, while China’s imports have decreased by 4.1 billion euros.
America is pressurizing India to reduce oil purchases from Russia. The US says that India’s purchasing Russian oil provides financial help for the Ukraine War. As a penalty to buy oil from Russia, the US has imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian exports since August 27, but no such action was taken on China or other Russian oil buyers.
America is under pressure on Europe
On the other hand, US President Donald Trump appealed to the European Union to impose a tariff of up to 100% on China and India, so that both countries could be forced to reduce energy trade from Russia. In August, China was the largest country to import crude oil and coal from Russia, while the Turkas were the largest buyer buying oil products and gas from Russia.
The largest buyer China
India’s total fossil fuel imports from Russia were 3.6 billion euros, which was less than China’s 5.7 billion euros. India’s procurement also included 510 million euro coal and 282 million euro refined products. China’s imports included 553 million euro oil products, 55 million euro coal and 676 million euro pipeline gas.
Europe is buying oil from Russia
The Turkas finished third, which imported 3 billion euro fossil fuels from Russia, including pipeline gas of 1.2 billion euro, 1 billion euro oil products, 596 million euro crude oil and 225 million euro coal. The European Union (EU) finished fourth, which included 1.2 billion euros, including 773 million euro LNG and pipeline gas and 379 million euro crude oil.
India responded to America
India has opposed American pressure. Arguing that it is unfair to target only India, while China, European Union and other countries are still buying a large amount of energy from Russia. The US has not directly banned Russian oil, but has imposed a price cap (maximum value limit) on it, allowing imports below the fixed limit. Earlier, the country’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also clearly said that she is not going to come under the tariff of America.