Bessent Says India’s Richest Families Benefit From Russia Deals

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed some of the “richest families in India” benefited from the purchase of Russian crude oil, while reiterating plans to boost tariffs on the South Asian nation.

“We have planned to up the tariffs on India — these are secondary tariffs for buying the sanctioned Russian oil,” Bessent said in an interview to CNBC on Tuesday. Before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, less than 1% of India’s oil came from Russia, “and now, I believe, it’s up to 42%. So India is just profiteering,” he said.