Months after the Trump administration sabotaged the India-US relationship by citing Russian oil purchases, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suffered a meltdown as the European Union inched closer to signing a “mother of all deals” with India. On the occasion of the 77th Republic Day of India, attended by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, a video of Bessent’s outburst over the imminent EU-India deal has gone viral.
Delivered during an interview on ABC’s This Week, Bessent bitterly noted, “The US has made much bigger sacrifices than the Europeans have. We have put a 25 per cent tariff on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:
— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 26, 2026
The US has made much bigger sacrifices than the Europeans have.
We have put 25% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India.
The Russian oil goes into India, the… pic.twitter.com/bzwchWKDuP
“The Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products. They are financing the war against themselves,” Bessent further resented, as India and the EU remain on the cusp of signing a historic trade deal.
While Bessent’s remarks laid bare deep fractures within the Western bloc over Russia-related sanctions and exposed what critics see as long-standing hypocrisy in targeting India over its purchase of Russian oil, it also offers a window into how the American top officials view ‘tariffs’ imposed by their own government, which Trump often parades as “tools” to exact obedience. Bessent’s description of tariffs as ‘sacrifices’ made by Americans is yet another admission that it is the US consumer who is paying the higher prices, not the other way around.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whose visit to India on Republic Day coincided with Bessent’s remarks, underscored the strategic importance of India ahead of the landmark India–EU trade deal, stating that “a successful India makes the world more stable, prosperous and secure.”
Calling it “the honour of a lifetime” to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations, von der Leyen, along with European Council President Antonio Costa, served as chief guest at the Kartavya Path parade and joined President Droupadi Murmu in a traditional buggy. The remarks came ahead of the 16th India–EU Summit, where both sides are set to sign the long-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on January 27, described as the “mother of all deals.”
The European Union is already India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral goods trade touching USD 135 billion in FY 2023–24, and officials say the FTA could substantially expand this volume while reshaping ties across multiple sectors. The agreement assumes added significance amid US tariff-driven disruptions to global trade. After talks launched in 2007 stalled in 2013, negotiations were revived in June 2022. As a signal of commitment, India is reportedly preparing to slash import duties on EU cars to 40 per cent from the current peak of 110 per cent ahead of the pact.
