Oil diatribe by Navarro: Self-serving and narrow

An op-ed by Trump's trade advisor first points and then wags a finger at India for its alleged support of Russia's war. His lurid charge relies on twisted facts and misses the global oil plot

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White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, once known by his books as a China hawk, has taken aim at India in a Financial Times op-ed published on Monday that reads like a diatribe. India funds Russia's Ukraine War, the article contends, by buying Russian oil, refining it, shipping refined products abroad and funneling the dollars so earned back to Russia for yet more crude supplies. And where does India get these dollars to buy Russian oil? From unfair trade with the US, of course, liberally exporting goods to America while denying market access to American goods with high tariffs and non-tariff barriers, thus running up a bilateral trade surplus. He accuses Indian refiners of being profiteers with silent Russian partners. So, since we launder Russian crude for Russia's leader, in Navarro's view, we deserve the 25% tariff that US President Donald Trump said he would slap on our exports next week on top of his 'reciprocal' 25%. Our "cozying up" with Russia and China also gets a glare. So too our insistence