World

‘Russia’s Laundromat’: Trump Aide’s Another Jibe At India After ‘Maharaja Tariff’s Over Oil Trade

by aweeincm

<p>White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has launched a fresh attack on India over its growing oil trade with Russia, accusing New Delhi of acting as a &ldquo;laundromat for the Kremlin.&rdquo; His comments come just days after he labelled India the &ldquo;Maharaja of tariffs&rdquo; while defending US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s decision to double duties on Indian imports.</p>
<p>Speaking at a media interaction, Navarro argued that India&rsquo;s crude oil purchases from Russia were negligible before the Ukraine war began in 2022 but now account for nearly 30&ndash;35% of its imports. &ldquo;The argument now, when this percentage has gone up to 30-35%, that somehow they need Russian oil, is nonsense,&rdquo; he said in a clip shared by C-Span. &ldquo;India doesn&rsquo;t appear to want to recognise its role in the bloodshed… It&rsquo;s cosying up to Xi Jinping. They don&rsquo;t need the oil.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Navarro doubled down on his criticism, calling India&rsquo;s oil trade with Moscow &ldquo;a refining profiteering scheme&rdquo; and &ldquo;a laundromat for the Kremlin.&rdquo; However, he also tempered his remarks, saying: &ldquo;I love India. Modi is a great leader, but please, India, look at your role in the global economy. What you&rsquo;re doing right now is not creating peace. It&rsquo;s perpetuating the war.&rdquo;</p>
<p>His attack comes ahead of Trump&rsquo;s August 27 deadline to impose 50% tariffs on Indian goods. Last month, Trump announced 25% duties, which were later doubled, with the first half already in effect and the remainder set to kick in this week.</p>
<p>&ldquo;In India, 25% tariffs were put in place because they cheat us on trade. Then 25% because of the Russian oil… They have higher tariffs, Maharaja tariffs,&rdquo; Navarro said, adding that the U.S. runs a &ldquo;massive trade deficit&rdquo; with India that hurts American businesses.</p>
<p>He further alleged that the revenue India earns from trade with the U.S. is diverted to Russia for oil purchases. &ldquo;That money is used by Moscow to build more arms and kill Ukrainians,&rdquo; he claimed. &ldquo;Meanwhile, American taxpayer money goes into providing more military aid to Ukraine. That&rsquo;s insane, and President Trump sees that chessboard beautifully. In many ways, the road to peace runs through New Delhi.&rdquo;</p>
<p>This is not Navarro&rsquo;s first swipe at India over its Russia policy. Writing in the Financial Times earlier this month, he described India&rsquo;s oil trade with Moscow as both &ldquo;opportunistic&rdquo; and &ldquo;corrosive&rdquo; to global efforts aimed at isolating Russia&rsquo;s economy.</p>

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