Stop Listening To The US, Inform US through diplomatic routes

They want our agricultural markets open. And in return, they are not cutting any of their MFN tariffs. We should royally ignore them as everybody else ignores the US.

 

The US House of Representatives passed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 by 262 to 159 on September 16 by making India a scape goat.

The Senate had approved it by 86 to 11 on August 7. The bill will now go to President Donald J Trump, and he is expected to sign it. The Act is to sanction Russia and Iran and any country that buys crude oil and natural gas from Russia and Iran.

These countries will face an additional tariffs of up to 100%. India and China are the major buyers of Russian crude. But the likely target of 100% tariff will be India, and not China.

These sanctions are imposed by the US illegally. By international law, we are supposed to honour only those sanctions that are released from the UN body and not by a country, stressed Bahujan Freedom Party President M.A.Mujeeb.

Now that the US House of Representatives has passed the bill, it is expected that once Trump signs it, the trade tariff will go up to 100%. 

Though the ministry of external affairs issued a statement that India had to take into consideration the energy requirement of 1.4 billion people. India need to buckle under pressure. As the Act is aimed at targeting the top importers of Russian oil and gas. And the number one importer of Russian oil is China, and number two is India.

Last time also, when the US imposed tariffs of 25% on India for the same reason, that is, buying oil from Russia, it did not impose any tariff on China. This demonstrates that the US is too scared of China.

Even though China is the biggest buyer of Russian oil, the US will not dare impose any tariff on China because China will retaliate. But the US has very clearly understood that India is not going to retaliate against whatever action they take.

So, what will  the  US  do. It is expected that they will impose a high tariff. It could be 25%, 50%, or 100%. Then, they will bargain with the Indian government to lower the tariff to 18%, 19% or 20%. And in return, they would ask India to sign the bilateral trade agreement which India is negotiating with them. As this trade agreement is a very, very, unequal agreement.

The problem with this approach is that even after signing the bilateral trade agreement, India will not have any peace from future actions.

For example, even after signing the agreement, the US may impose future tariffs using Section 301. There are so many other ways they can impose tariffs.

They already done this with their trade partners like the European Union, Japan, South Korea and many other countries after they signed trade agreements last year.

Even after signing the trade agreement, the US initiated Section 301 and imposed tariffs on them. 

Here, India is talking about energy. India import 88% to 90% of oil we consume here. In such a scenario, India should not cut down on our buying of oil from Russia, because they are the largest supplier of oil to India.

I was looking at the July 2026 data, and I found that almost 51.1% of India's imports was coming from Russia.

In July 2026, Russia supplied crude worth $7.27 billion, which is 51.1% of its total crude imports of $14.21 billion. The other suppliers were far behind. The UAE accounted for 10.8% of India's July imports, Saudi Arabia 9.6%, Venezuela 6.3%, Brazil 5.5%, Oman 5.3% and the US 2.9%.

It means Russia alone supplied more crude oil than all these six countries combined. While India's sources of oil have changed sharply. Four years back in 2022, before the start of the Ukraine war, the Gulf countries supplied more than 55% of India's crude, while Russia's share was below 15%.

Because of the US-led disruptions in the Gulf, oil from the Gulf countries is less than 30%, less than half of India's oil supply. This has pushed India to buy more oil from Russia. Imagine in 2022, India's share of oil from Russia was only 15%. 

It is imparative that India should buy oil from Russia as long as we get oil at a competitive price. But at a discounted price. We don't know that. 

India should buy oil from Russia as long as we get oil at a competitive price. As these sanctions are imposed by the US illegally. By international law, we are supposed to honour only those sanctions that are released from the UN body and not by a country.

So, India should royally ignore them as everybody else ignores the US. There will be more tariff on our exports and their consumers will suffer.

Though India also will suffer somewhat in the process. But compared to the suffering, signing a deeply unequal trade agreement is worse. That will bind India to a bad agreement for a long, long time.

After a few months, the charges will be applicable on more services. In a scenario where the options are between buying oil from Russia and surrender to the US, you feel India should opt for buying oil from Russia?

In 2018-2019 during Trump's first term, he imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium. What the Indian government did at that time was, it imposed counter tariffs on their products, it is in India's interest. That was how India reacted at that time.

Now, India is not willing to take counter measures. At least India should ignore them. Everybody is standing up. Yes, Canada is imposing counter tariffs.

The US is so scared of China because China also imposed counter-tariff last year. And the US will not dare touch China.

Because India are listening, this is happening. If you listen to a rowdy in a class, he will keep on bullying you. In result, India should stop listening to the US. Now it is advisable that India to say do whatever you want. We will not compromise on anything.

The US knows that India is not getting anything, and India is giving everything. India should not act like a subservient partner. 

In case of US want India to commit that India would buy $500 billion worth of US goods. Then India have to align security and economic alignment with the US. For example, if Russia is their enemy, Russia is India's enemy too. Then India have to do tariffs on most things at zero.

They want to open India's agricultural markets open. And in return, they are not cutting any of their MFN tariffs. It is bad for India and one sided. So, India should walk away.

BRICS is only a little more than talk shop. It could be effective if they adopt the local currency for trading in a big way. Because that will amount to a lesser use of the dollar. As India expected some firm steps will be announced this time. I do not think because of the differences between India and China, nothing was announced. 

In diplomatic language it is untrue. So, it was a missed opportunity as far as opting for a local currency for trade is concerned. See, India have countries with diverse loyalties. Some are loyal towards the US, some anti- US. So, forming one opinion on anything is very difficult.

BRICS would have been impactful if it would have taken firm steps to implement local currency for trading. The US is imposing illegal tariff on India. How will it be for India now if the US impose 100% tariff. It is certain the The US is imposing illegal tariff on India.

But India in return should not take any action to appease the US, that will hurt India's interest.

Instad, India should continue to buy oil from Russia if you are getting it at a competitive price, advised the Editorial of Indian White Paper.