Trump slashes tariffs on India after Modi agrees to stop buying Russian oil

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Business

Updated Feb 2, 2026, 1:32 PM ET
PUBLISHED Feb 2, 2026, 12:36 PM ET


President Donald Trump on Monday announced he would reduce tariffs on Indian goods in exchange for, among other things, a promise to stop buying Russian oil.

That will be a tall task: India has been importing roughly 1.5 million barrels of Russian oil each day — even months after Trump placed tariffs on Indian goods as punishment — according to Kpler, a global trade data provider. Russian oil makes up more than a third of India’s overall imports.

Trump said in a social media post that he spoke Monday morning with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who agreed to replace the country’s Russian crude imports with oil from Venezuela and the United States. Venezuelan oil is of the same quality as Russian oil — heavy, sour and perfect for making derivatives like fuel oil and diesel.

It’s not clear, however, how long that transition may take. Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is dilapidated and requires about a decade of work and tens of billions of investment dollars to return it to the more-than-3 million barrels a day output it had achieved before the country’s Socialist government took control in 1999.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/02/business/india-russian-oil-trump-tariffs

[twodogsbarking]

1. Solar and wind. That's where the money should go. Brilliant minds are waiting to make them greater.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. The biggest buyer is still China

and it was only recently (after the start of the war in Ukraine) that India started buying from Russia when they heavily discounted the price.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142923926

[JI7]

2. Is there anything else other than Trump which shows they have agreed to stop buying Russian Oil

I find that hard to believe . Trump could have made that up to make it seem like he won somehow .

[BumRushDaShow]

6. See my post right above

India only started buying in higher volume a few years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine and then heavily discounted their oil due to sanctions by other countries. They can easily switch back to their original sources - especially now that spot oil has been running in the ~$60/bbl range on average (vs in the $100 range for both Brent and WTI back in 2022).

[ck4829]

4. Is the "shadow fleet" exempt though?

[cstanleytech]

5. Trump will probably redirect the oil from Venezuela to India.

[chowder66]

7. Adhering to the enemy, giving aid and comfort.

[Javaman]

8. that's a nice tall tale...

Modi will still get his russian oil through other means.

this is really in response to Modi telling trump to fuck off on buy more of the US F-35s after trump insulted India.

trump blinked and came up with a cover story that Modi might even go along with for a good deal on new fighter planes.

[mdbl]

9. So he's throwing Putin under the bus now? His biggest campaign supporter?

to both of them.

[quakerboy]

10. And china?

Because as long as china is happy to vacuum up Russian oil, i suspect they will keep on pumping.