Day after United States President Donald Trump waived sanctions and tariffs related to Russian exports in a major relief to India and other countries, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington wanted more time to evaluate the situation.
He said on Saturday that the leader would use up to 60 days to assess the economic impact of the Russia-related sanctions and tariffs that were waived.
Rubio made the remarks while speaking to the press ahead of his departure for a six-day tour of Uzbekistan and India. He said New Delhi had "voluntarily diversified" its fuel portfolio but was still getting a "substantial amount" of its energy imports from Russia as it is "hard" to change suppliers overnight.
Rubio said, "The problem is these sanctions were not just sanctions on Russia. They include tariffs on a number of countries – India, for example, and others. And so I think the President wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyze what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy."
On Friday, Trump waived key provisions of the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, also known as the Graham Act, which authorised punitive levies on countries purchasing Russian oil, such as India and China.
Rubio said the law, which was passed on September 18, included provisions for waivers to allow the administration time to assess the impact of various global conflicts and their implications for energy supplies and prices.
"I think when the bill was passed, one of the reasons the waivers were put in there is the understanding that they would need some period of time to study this, given all the different things that are going on in the world right now, including the pressure on global energy supplies that are happening not just because of Iran, not just because of the Straits of Hormuz, but increasingly because of the Houthis attacking Saudi Arabia and because of the war with Ukraine and Russia, where energy infrastructure is being hit. And so that’s having an impact on global prices as well," he said.
Rubio further said, "So, I think you have to take all of that into account and weigh it against each other. And then you’ve got countries like India, for example, that have voluntarily diversified their energy portfolio but are still getting a substantial amount of energy from Russia because it’s hard to pivot from one day to the next, but they're also an important ally and partner of the United States."
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(With inputs from agencies)