Washington, Sep 23 – US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio has indicated that the Donald Trump administration may be willing to ‘fix’ the additional 25 per cent tariffs imposed on India over its purchases of Russian oil. In an interview with the NBC News, Rubio spoke about the US measures to end the conflict in Ukraine and hoped that the additional tariffs against India could be fixed.
“We have already seen the measures we have taken with regards to India, although that’s something we hope we can fix,” he said. Rubio blamed the European countries for not “doing enough.”
“I think it’s important for Europe to impose sanctions, too. Right now, there are countries in Europe that are still buying massive amounts of oil and natural gas from Russia, which is absurd. They’re asking for the US to impose more sanctions, but there are countries in Europe that are not doing enough. So, I think they need to do more,” he emphasised.
Rubio kept the possibility of additional sanctions on Russia open. “At some point, he [Trump] may have to decide to impose new sanctions. The President has the ability to do more, and he’s considering doing more because of the direction this has taken,” he noted. His statement comes a day after a meeting with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar in New York.
After the talks, Rubio said that India is of “critical” value to his country and welcomed the ongoing trade interactions. EAM Jaishankar also posted on X, “Our conversation covered a range of bilateral and international issues of current concern. Agreed on the importance of sustained engagement to progress on priority areas”.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Monday in New York to negotiate the first tranche of a trade agreement between the two sides. Sources told IANS that the meeting focused on addressing key sticking points, and both sides remain hopeful of reaching an interim understanding soon.
