United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has accused European allies of refusing to join Washington in imposing secondary tariffs on countries buying Russian energy, arguing that Europe cannot expect America to shoulder the economic cost of confronting Moscow while European nations continue to import Russian fuel themselves.
Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, October 18, Bessent said the Trump administration had approached its European partners as far back as the spring of 2026 seeking a coordinated response against major importers of Russian energy, naming China and India among the countries it wanted targeted. The Europeans, he said, turned the proposal down.
"So we have asked — in the spring, I asked our European allies to join us in putting secondary tariffs on China, on India. They refused. So why should the US bear the burden?" Bessent told the programme, according to Moneycontrol. His framing was blunt: if European governments are unwilling to act against the buyers of Russian energy, they cannot reasonably demand that the United States absorb the costs of doing so on its own.
The comments open a fresh fault line between Washington and European capitals over how the West should apply economic pressure on Russia, more than four and a half years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They also place India squarely in the middle of a transatlantic argument — not for the first time this year — over its purchases of discounted Russian crude.
Background to the row
Bessent's remarks come in the wake of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Friday, October 16, which grants a waiver from sanctions imposed under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act — commonly referred to as the Graham Act. The legislation, which passed Congress last month with overwhelming bipartisan support, lays out one of the most aggressive sanctions frameworks the United States has contemplated against Moscow.
Trump has said the waiver amounts to a 60-day pause rather than a retreat. "No sanctions were lifted on Friday," Bessent insisted on the NBC programme, repeating the administration's line that the order merely creates breathing space to assess the economic consequences before any sanctions or tariff measures take effect.
Under the Graham Act, the President has 60 days to evaluate what the imposition of sanctions and tariffs would mean for the global economy and for the American economy itself, according to both Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The administration says the review period is meant to be a serious analytical exercise — mapping the likely fallout on energy markets, inflation, and growth — rather than a prelude to quiet abandonment of the legislation.
Rubio, speaking on Saturday evening ahead of a six-day diplomatic visit to Uzbekistan and India, explained that the waiver mechanism was written into the Act precisely so Washington could study the pressures on global energy supply before acting.
Among the pressures he cited were the continuing war between Iran and its adversaries in the region, the Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia, and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war — a combination that has left energy markets, in his description, unusually exposed to supply shocks.
Rubio also singled out India for special consideration. New Delhi, he said, is an important ally whose energy requirements have to be factored into any sanctions calculus. His comments, carried by newkerala.com, suggest the administration is well aware that punitive tariffs on Indian crude purchases would carry real diplomatic and economic costs for a relationship Washington has spent years cultivating.
Europe in the crosshairs
Where Bessent's argument turned sharply confrontational was in his attack on Europe's own record on Russian energy. The Treasury Secretary accused European nations of maintaining substantial imports of Russian fuel even while urging the United States to act more forcefully.
He cited figures relating to Russia's Yamal liquefied natural gas facility: in the first six months of 2026, he said, 140 cargoes of gas departed the facility, of which 136 were bound for Europe — for Belgium, Spain, France, and the Netherlands — representing purchases worth more than eight billion dollars. The numbers, as presented by Bessent, were intended to illustrate that European demand continues to underwrite Russian energy revenues at scale.
Bessent added that European countries had waived an embargo on the purchase of Russian diesel and jet fuel in May 2026, a decision he portrayed as further evidence of Europe's double standard: demanding tougher American action against Russian energy buyers abroad while carving out exemptions for its own fuel needs at home.
The accusation feeds into a long-running American grievance that European nations have been slow to fully sever their energy ties with Russia despite repeated rounds of sanctions since 2022. For their part, European governments have historically pointed to their heavy dependence on Russian pipeline gas and the economic dislocation that a sudden cutoff would cause — a dispute that has flared periodically since the war began.
India's delicate position
For New Delhi, Bessent's remarks are a reminder of how exposed its energy policy has become to Western pressure. India emerged after 2022 as one of the largest buyers of Russian crude, taking advantage of steep discounts as Western buyers withdrew from the market. Indian officials have consistently defended the policy as a matter of energy security for the world's third-largest oil consumer, arguing that refiners are simply buying the cheapest available barrels.
The Trump administration's interest in secondary tariffs on India was already well telegraphed earlier in the year, and Bessent's revelation that Washington sought European backing for such measures as far back as the spring adds a new layer to that story. The fact that Europe declined to join does not necessarily remove the threat: it could, instead, harden the administration's argument that the United States should act unilaterally.
Rubio's remarks ahead of his India visit offer some counterweight. By describing India as an important ally whose energy needs must be weighed in the balance, the Secretary of State signalled that the sanctions debate inside the administration is not one-sided. His six-day trip, which takes in both Uzbekistan and India, will be watched closely for indications of how Washington intends to handle the question in practice.
What happens next
Trump has made clear that he wants the killing in Ukraine to stop, Bessent said, positioning the sanctions question inside the President's broader push to end the war. Whether the 60-day review under the Graham Act produces tougher measures, targeted carve-outs, or another extension remains to be seen.
Much will depend on what the administration's economists and energy analysts conclude about the risks. Secondary tariffs on major importers of Russian energy would represent a significant escalation — raising the prospect of higher global oil prices, retaliatory trade measures, and strained alliances at a moment when energy markets are already under pressure from multiple regional conflicts.
For now, the immediate effect of Bessent's interview is to shift attention back onto the divisions within the Western coalition. The Treasury Secretary's message to Europe was essentially a challenge: act together, or accept that America will set its own course. How Brussels, Paris, Berlin, and other European capitals respond — and whether the 60-day clock produces real policy or just another pause — will shape the next phase of the economic confrontation with Moscow.
(Reporting based on Moneycontrol.)