Peter Navarro’s statement comes ahead of American chief negotiator Brendan Lynch’s visit to India. Ahead of American chief negotiator Brendan Lynch’s visit to India, White House trade advisor Peter Navarro on Monday again targeted India over its trade policies.
“Indian refiners were in bed with Russian refiners immediately after the invasion. They make money off us via unfair trade and many workers get screwed. They use that money to buy Russian oil, and Russians use that to buy weapons,” Navarro said. “India is coming to the table. On the trade side, they have very high tariffs,” he added.
Lynch, who is the Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, is arriving in India on Monday night, September 15. He will hold talks with India’s chief negotiator, Rajesh Agrawal. Agrawal said that both sides intend to “fast-track” the talks, and confirmed Lynch’s one-day visit, but gave no details.
A visit by the US team was originally scheduled between August 25 and 29, but it was called off amid rising tensions over massive tariffs imposed by the US on Indian products as “penalty” for the country’s purchase of Russian oil “funding the Ukraine war”.
