Congress Warns Trump's 100% Tariff on Russian Oil Buyers Threatens India's Energy Security

The Congress party has criticised United States President Donald Trump's decision to impose 100% tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil, describing it as an unjustified action with serious consequences for India's energy security, economy and trade.

In separate statements on Sunday, Congress Working Committee member and former Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala cautioned against surrendering to US pressure, asserting that securing affordable energy for 140 crore people is a sovereign duty of the government.

Mr. Sharma said Mr. Trump's signing of the Lindsay Graham Bill into law, which empowers him to levy 100% tariffs on nations buying Russian oil, was a matter of grave concern. He noted that India is a major importer of Russian crude, accounting for more than half of its crude petroleum imports this year, after the US-Israel attack on Iran and the West Asia conflict disrupted global oil and gas supplies and drove up prices sharply. He said the action carried serious implications for India's energy security, economy and trade.

Mr. Sharma also pointed to what he called hypocrisy and double standards, noting that the US itself annually imports uranium and fertilisers worth over $4 billion, which he said had been deliberately kept outside the scope of the Graham Act. He described the arbitrary targeting of strategic partner countries, including India, as unjustified, unacceptable and condemnable.

Mr. Surjewala said India is a sovereign republic with the right to buy energy from any nation that serves its national interests and at a price its people can afford. He said friendship with Washington does not make national interest subservient to the demands of the White House under a weak-kneed BJP government, reiterating that affordable energy for 140 crore people is a sovereign duty.

He described the current situation as an abject capitulation by the Narendra Modi-led government at the cost of the Indian economy. After 12 years of 'Vishwaguru' rhetoric, he said, the government has failed to build the counter-leverage needed to shield India from external economic pressure and lacks the courage to stand on equal ground for the people and the nation. He added that while private refiners captured billions from discounted Russian crude, the government had left an $86.5 billion export economy exposed to Washington's coercion.