India Responds to Trump's '500% Russia Tariff' Bill, US Withdrawal from Solar Alliance
New Delhi: India said today that it is aware of the US bill which proposes that any country trading in Russian-origin oil, gas and uranium will face a "punitive tariff" of at least 500% relative to the value of these goods and services.
"We are aware of the proposed bill. We are closely following the developments," the Ministry of External Affairs said in its weekly briefing on January 9.
US senator Lindsey Graham had said that he met with Trump at the White House earlier, during which the president “greenlit” the Russia sanctions bill that has been in the works for months.
The bill allows the US administration to impose tariffs and secondary sanctions on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports in an effort to cut off the source of financing for much of Russia’s military actions.
India already faces a 25% "punitive" tariff on its exports to the US as a result of its purchase of Russian crude. India is the second-largest purchaser of Russian oil after China, the European think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has said, but Trump has claimed multiple times that New Delhi has reduced purchases, once mentioning that prime minister Narendra Modi knew how important it was to make Trump "happy."
The MEA said that it is guided by the imperative to secure affordable energy for the nation, among other things.
"Our position on the larger question of energy sourcing is well known. In this endeavour, we are guided by the evolving dynamics of the global market and by the imperative to secure affordable energy from diverse sources to meet the energy security needs of our 1.4 billion people," the MEA said.
The ministry also responded to the announcement made by the Trump administration to withdraw from 66 international organisations and bodies of the United Nations.
"We have seen the announcement made by the United States to withdraw from various international organisations and bodies of the United Nations," spokesperson Jaiswal said.
Among the organisations that the US has withdrawn from is the International Solar Alliance, which India launched.
"Since its inception, the International Solar Alliance has made significant progress in advancing its mandate to promote solar energy deployment and cooperation among its 125 member countries. We will continue to advance its goals. India stands for multilateralism and believes that global issues need consultative and collaborative action by all countries," the MEA said.
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