Kolkata: Washington should not slap punitive tariffs against Indian for buying Russian crude, Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase, the world’s
largest bank by market cap has said and urged the Donald Trump administration to consider how Indian refiners use the crude oil imported from that country. His comment followed the US president formalising a law that allows import tariff of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil and gas. India is the second biggest buyer of Russian energy after China.
“Don’t end up punishing India”
“I think hopefully America will sit down and understand all those issues and, you know, not end up punishing India and the world oil markets while doing what we need to do to combat Russia,” the chairman of one of the most influential US financial giants said while speaking to a television channel in India. He was in Mumbai to attend the JPMorgan India Investor Conference.
“I’m not sure I think we should be putting any kind of tariffs on the oil,” Dimon said, indicating he doubted whether slapping tariffs on buyers of Russian oil was the proper way to bring pressure on Moscow.
What’s the new US law enabling 100% tariffs
Trump’s tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil is the harshest that has been legislated so far. It is called Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 and gives the US president the authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top five volume purchasers of Russian crude oil or natural gas. It has been signed into a law few days ago, However, the law does not automatically impose 100% tariffs on the buyers.
Russian crude and India’s position
After the new law came into effect, the Indian Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, posted on social media that India is built on a “people first” approach. “The energy security of India’s people comes first,” he mentioned on X. “Our choices are guided by availability, affordability, market conditions and commercial viability,” he said, in a clear support to the current energy procurement policy of New Delhi.
Dimon’s argument seems to focus on the types of crude oil used by refineries. He has indicated that crude grades are not necessarily interchangeable and refineries are designed to process particular types of oil. The logic: sudeenly switching from one grade of crude to another is not for a refinery is not possible.
“I think in this case would be quite respectful of the fact that, you know, some of that oil is refined and imported. If they don’t buy it here, they have to buy it elsewhere. It might not be the right kind of oil for those refineries,” he said.
