Bessent says Europe refused Washington’s request to tariff India and China over Russian oil

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said European countries refused a request from Washington to impose secondary tariffs on India and China for buying Russian oil, according to reports of his Sunday interview^2,3. Open Magazine carried the same account, saying European allies had declined the request⁴, and ANI quoted the secretary directly as saying that Washington asked European allies to put secondary tariffs on India and China for buying Russian oil and that they refused⁵.

The disclosure came in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, in which Bessent also told the programme that the administration will own the economy, Barron’s reported¹.

This is the administration’s own account of private diplomacy, and no European government is quoted confirming it in the reporting available.

Why it matters to investors

Secondary tariffs are the main non-military instrument aimed at Russian energy revenue, because they target the buyers rather than the seller. India and China are the buyers in question^2,3.

Firstpost reported that Washington describes the current sanctions waiver as a 60-day pause, and tied that framing to the disclosure that Europe refused to target India and China over Russian oil⁶. Rediff reported the pause as covering both the Russia sanctions and the India tariffs for 60 days, and carried Bessent’s statement that European allies refused US requests to impose secondary sanctions on China and India⁷.

For Indian refiners the relief is explicitly temporary. The Hindustan Times reported that the deferred 100% US tariffs offer only temporary relief to India as Russian oil imports fall, because the act’s secondary sanctions have been deferred rather than removed⁸.

What to watch

The first thing to watch is whether any European capital disputes Bessent’s characterisation. The claim that allies refused a US request is, so far, sourced to one side of the conversation^2,5.

The second is the clock. If the pause runs for the 60 days Washington describes^6,7, the question for buyers of Russian crude is what happens at the end of it, and whether the secondary-tariff threat is revived with or without European participation⁸. The gap between a deferred measure and a dead one is the whole of the risk here.