Donald Trump is tightening sanctions loopholes that fund Moscow’s war machine. What does a crackdown on Russia’s oil trade mean for global markets — and economic heavyweights like China and India?
India and China have pushed back firmly against US President Donald Trump’s threats of secondary sanctions — penalties for doing business with a sanctioned country — over their continued purchases of Russia’s oil, which is a key revenue stream for Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Both nations vowed to protect their energy security and economic sovereignty against what Beijing firmly called “coercion and pressure” from the United States. China became the biggest importer of Russian oil in 2022.
India, meanwhile, accused the West of hypocrisy, pointing out that the European Union continues to import Russian energy, despite having massively reduced its reliance on it since the war began.
New Delhi further noted that Washington had actively supported its oil purchases from Russia, which ramped up shortly after the Russian invasion, to help stabilize global oil prices. India’s oil purchases from Russia grew nearly 19-fold from 2021 to 2024, from 0.1 to 1.9 million barrels a day, while China’s rose by 50% to 2.4 million barrels a day.
Petras Katinas, a Lithuania-based energy analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), told DW that India, Russia’s second-largest oil buyer, had saved up to $33 billion in energy costs between 2022 and 2024 as Moscow offered large price cuts when the US and Europe cut their reliance on Russian oil and gas. India’s longtime policy of balancing ties with the US, Russia and China, without prioritizing any side, had “underpinned” the decision to buy discounted Russian crude, with New Delhi “prioritizing energy security and affordability,”
Katinas said.
Trump’s new sanctions threat roils markets
Having already imposed a25% tariff on Indian imports, Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday, levying an additional 25% tariff on India-made goods over its purchases of Russian oil. rity and affordability,” Katinas said…
Source:thedailystar.net
