US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's remarks come ahead of a high-level summit where India and the European Union are expected to formally announce the conclusion of negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement.
Trump administration will use "alternative legal authorities" to enforce tariffs on the countries, assuring that the tariff revenue will remain unchanged.
As in-person negotiations between India and the US kickstarted on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected India to strike the first bilateral trade deal to avert President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated a potential pathway to remove tariffs imposed on India for purchasing Russian oil, citing a significant decrease in such purchases. He also criticized Europe's approach and accused India of profiting from discounted Russian oil.
In the wake of the FTA between India and the European Union, the United States has described the Europeans as 'very disappointing', saying they were unwilling to join Washington, DC in putting tariffs on New Delhi for its purchases of Russian oil because of this trade deal.
The turning point came with the appointment of Sergio Gor as the US ambassador to India.
Glimpses of US President Donald Trump's arrival in Tokyo, Japan, for the second stop on his Asia tour, October 27, 2025.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order retroactively lowering tariffs on a range of agricultural imports, including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, with the change taking effect from November 20, CNN reported.
Trump claimed that he "got a call from Prime Minister Modi saying, 'we're done'. I said, 'you're done with what?'" Trump said and claimed Modi replied: "We're not going to go to war."
The Indian nationals sanctioned include Varun Pula, who owns Marshall Islands-based Bertha Shipping Inc., which owns and operates Comoros-flagged vessel PAMIR.
US President Donald Trump has said that India should not be "dumping" rice into the United States market and he will "take care" of it, while stressing that tariffs will solve the "problem" easily.
US President Donald Trump received a mixed reception of cheers and boos at the US Open final at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Sunday.
Sullivan remarks come amid the rising friction between Washington and New Delhi due to the 50 percent tariffs imposed on Indian goods, which include a 25 percent penalty for buying Russian oil.
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned that the secondary tariffs on India could go up if 'things don't go well' during talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
The US is "pretty close" to reaching a "fair trade deal" with India, President Donald Trump has said, adding that he will lower the tariffs imposed on Indian goods at "some point".
Describing the India-United States relationship as 'very complicated', US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday hoped that 'at the end of the day, we will come together.'
Trump's post on Truth Social comes a day after the US asked G7 countries to impose tariffs on countries purchasing oil from Russia.
The US Department of the Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in an effort to pressure the Kremlin to end its war in Ukraine.
As one of the federal appeal courts in the United States ruled that most of tariffs imposed by Trump administration are not accordance with the laws, US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) affirmed that all tariffs imposed on the countries will remain in effect, calling a recent ruling by a 'highly Partisan Appeals Court' incorrect.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday once again claimed that United States President Donald Trump has ended the military conflict between India and Pakistan.
There were apprehensions that additional secondary tariffs would have hit India in case the US decided to enforce them.
The Trump administration has told the US Supreme Court that it imposed tariffs against India for purchasing Russian energy products as part of its strategy to address the war in Ukraine.
The Swiss government would not object to tennis legend Roger Federer or FIFA President Gianni Infantino intervening to reduce the country's tariff burden after the US slapped a 39 percent import duty on its goods, President Karin Keller-Sutter said.
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats stated that imposing tariffs on India will not deter Russian President Vladimir Putin or address Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The statement did not name any country. But the US has often blamed India and China for purchasing Russian oil even when there are no tariffs on Beijing for it.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar defends India's purchase of Russian oil, stating it is not the largest purchaser and that the US had previously supported such actions to stabilize energy markets. He also addresses concerns about tariffs and trade relations with the US.
Trump stated that Russia will face "severe economic consequences" if Putin doesn't show interest in de-escalating the Ukraine conflict.
Russia has a "special mechanism" to confront any challenge arising out of the US slapping punitive measures against India for its procurement of Russian crude oil, Russian charge d'affaires Roman Babushkin said on Wednesday.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday expressed hope that India will conclude the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US by the fall or November this year. He said that "a little bit" of geopolitical issues overtook the trade matters in the negotiations for the pact between the two countries.
US President Donald Trump has said that tariff negotiations with India are "coming along great," and he thinks the two countries will strike a trade deal.
Trump reiterated that he is not negotiating on behalf of Ukraine, but rather aiming to bring the parties to the negotiating table.
The fact that Gor has President Trump's ear makes him an extremely valuable commodity for India -- he represents both a challenge and an opportunity, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Who else will take on the might of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon if not the Adanis, Ambanis, Birlas, or Tatas?, asks R Jagannathan.
Communication channels between India and the US are open to resolve the ongoing tariff issues, and the glitch in trade ties is only temporary, given the long-term relationship between the two nations, government sources said on Wednesday. The US' 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports to America came into effect from August 27, barring a few sectors.
'Trump does have a master plan in mind to put pressure on India with the additional tariff of 25 per cent to get Modi to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze the Ukraine war.' 'It has not worked so far. By end-September only we'll know for sure the future trajectory of India's oil purchases from Russia,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'...it should not delude itself into thinking that India's security or its great-power ambitions will be advanced by those partnerships.'
'Instead, what India should focus on is on riding out the next three-and-a-half years of Trump's presidency with minimal damage to itself.'
India would neither succumb to the Americans on issues of national security, such as its defence ties with Russia, nor cede ground on its domestic interests in the agriculture and dairy sectors.
Reaffirming India's stand against terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged leaders of the G7 to galvanise global action against terrorism and underscored the need for strict action against those who 'promote and support' it.
The rupee has held its ground against the US dollar in the 2025 calendar year so far, but depreciated significantly against the euro and pound. It fell by 6.83 per cent, and 5.44 per cent against the euro and pound respectively, as the two currencies strengthened significantly against the greenback during the period.
The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both countries.
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