Congressman Brad Sherman has taken direct aim at the Trump administration over its trade approach, accusing the White House of applying double standards when it comes to countries buying energy from Russia.
The Democratic lawmaker from California said the administration appears to be searching for justifications to keep steep tariffs on India in place. He argued that while India is being penalized for its continued purchases of Russian oil, several other countries with significantly higher levels of dependence on Russian energy have not faced comparable trade consequences.
The heart of the dispute is a 25 percent “penalty” tariff that the Trump administration has leaned on in an effort to push India to scale back its energy relationship with Russia.
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Sherman said singling out India makes little sense, especially when New Delhi sources roughly 21 percent of its crude oil from Russia. In his view, targeting India while other countries with far greater reliance on Russian energy face no similar trade action raises serious questions about fairness and consistency in U.S. policy.
Sherman wrote on X: “President Trump is grasping for excuses to slap outrageous tariffs on India.”
He added, “He claims it’s about importing Russian oil — yet Hungary imports 90% of its crude from Russia with no tariffs. And China, Russia’s biggest oil buyer, hasn’t been hit with sanctions tied to purchasing Russian oil, though it has been hit for other reasons. India gets just 21% of its crude from Russia, but our ally is being singled out. The President should reverse this policy immediately.”
Sherman’s remarks come at a time when Moscow has firmly rejected suggestions that India is preparing to scale back its purchases of Russian crude.
Responding to claims from Washington that New Delhi had agreed to halt imports, Russia’s foreign ministry said it has “no reason” to believe that is true. The statement directly contradicts the narrative that India is backing away from its energy ties with Russia under U.S. pressure.
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Earlier this month, the White House rolled out what it described as a temporary trade understanding that would bring down the effective tariff burden on Indian goods from roughly 50 percent to 18 percent. Alongside that announcement, U.S. officials asserted that Narendra Modi had agreed to completely halt Russian oil imports and pivot toward buying energy from the United States and Venezuela. New Delhi, however, has not publicly backed that version of events.
A day before Sherman’s remarks, former U.S. diplomat Lindsey Ford urged Washington to tread carefully. Speaking before a congressional commission, Ford, who previously served as a senior South Asia official in the Joe Biden administration, said policymakers must factor in India’s long dependence on Russian defense supplies and energy links.
She warned that demanding a rapid break from Moscow could backfire. “America needs to understand that if we ask India to diversify away from Russia, it will create a real vulnerability for India. If America does not step up to provide things militarily, we should have no expectation that India will walk away from Russia,” Ford said.