US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has revealed that Washington asked its European allies to join it in imposing secondary tariffs on India and China over their purchases of Russian energy — and that they refused. Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Bessent questioned why the United States should bear the economic burden of pressuring Moscow alone. The remarks, which are trending per news coverage, landed just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing enforcement of sweeping new Russia sanctions for 60 days, setting off an unusually public crack in the Western sanctions front against Russia.
The spring request that Europe rejected
"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," Bessent said. "So why should the US bear the burden?" He described the request as part of a broader attempt to coordinate economic pressure on Moscow with European governments, and framed the refusal as the reason Washington is entitled to reassess its own sanctions strategy rather than proceeding alone.
The Treasury Secretary argued that the administration should not be expected to carry the full economic cost of the sanctions regime when its partners declined to take comparable action. "President Trump, perhaps we will be in contact with our European partners. Why should the US go it alone," he said, suggesting the issue is far from closed.
The Yamal numbers: Europe's continued Russian energy imports
Bessent's sharpest ammunition was data. He cited shipments from Russia's Yamal facility, saying that in the first six months of the year, 140 cargoes had departed — and 136 of them went to European destinations. The countries he named were Belgium, Spain, France and the Netherlands, with the shipments worth more than $8 billion. "In the first 6 months of the year, there were 140 cargoes that left. 136 of those went to Europe — over USD 8 billion," he said, arguing that European countries had handed Russia substantial revenue while publicly supporting Ukraine.
He added that European countries had waived an embargo on purchases of Russian diesel and jet fuel in May, undercutting the moral basis of the pressure campaign against India and China. His message: Europe cannot ask Washington to punish New Delhi and Beijing for buying Russian energy while continuing to buy it themselves.
The 60-day sanctions pause under the Graham Act
Bessent's remarks came amid intense criticism of Trump's decision to waive sanctions under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 — legislation passed last month with overwhelming bipartisan support. Lawmakers have questioned the waiver's implications for Ukraine and for the enforcement of sanctions against Moscow.
"No sanctions were lifted on Friday," Bessent told NBC, referring to the executive order signed by Trump granting a waiver from sanctions under the Graham Act. He stressed that the legislation itself gives the president the flexibility to assess the situation: "President Trump has made it clear he wants the killing to stop. And the so-called Graham bill gives the president the flexibility, gives him 60 days to assess the situation."
He also insisted that existing sanctions against major Russian energy companies remained in force, and that the waiver was a 60-day pause to analyse the global impact of the measures — not a retreat from the sanctions regime.
Wright names the targets: India and China
Energy Secretary Chris Wright added his own detail, separately identifying India and China as the two "meaningful targets" under the new sanctions law. Like Bessent, he said President Trump had suspended enforcement for now — but had retained the authority to impose the penalties later.
Together, the remarks by the two senior Cabinet officials offered the freshest public details of the administration's approach to Russian energy trade: identify the targets, hold the penalties in reserve, and use the 60-day window to decide whether the economic cost is worth paying.
Rubio strikes a softer note on India
Secretary of State Marco Rubio added an important nuance, describing India as an important ally whose energy requirements must be considered. The comment acknowledges the reality that India imports a large share of its crude oil from Russia — purchases that have grown sharply since 2022 and that New Delhi defends as essential to its energy security.
Rubio's framing signals that Washington is weighing strategic partnership against sanctions pressure. India is a key partner in the Indo-Pacific, a member of the Quad, and a growing trade partner — which makes punitive tariffs on New Delhi a far more complicated proposition than they might first appear.
What are secondary tariffs?
Most sanctions are "primary": they restrict the target country's own trade and finance. Secondary tariffs go a step further — they penalise third countries for doing business with the sanctioned one. The idea is to choke off the target's economic lifelines even where they run through friendly or neutral nations.
The tool is powerful but rarely used at scale, because it can strain alliances and disrupt global trade. Bessent's complaint about Europe illustrates exactly why: asking allies to absorb economic pain for a sanctions strategy they did not fully endorse can fracture the very coalition the sanctions need to work. Trump had earlier kept 100 per cent tariffs on China on the table, but the US-China trade framework reached in Kuala Lumpur took those sweeping tariffs off — leaving the Russia-energy question as the remaining pressure point.
Why this story matters right now
The Bessent revelations arrive at a moment when the sanctions coalition is under visible strain on several fronts. Trump's public feud with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — including Trump's Truth Social broadside accusing Zelensky of prolonging the war — has already put the administration's Ukraine policy under scrutiny. Meanwhile, Iran has urged the US to accept a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, tying the energy dimension of the crisis to maritime security.
Against that backdrop, Bessent's public call-out of Europe does two things at once: it justifies the 60-day pause to domestic critics, and it warns European capitals that Washington may not keep carrying the sanctions burden alone. For India, the story confirms that New Delhi remains squarely in the administration's sights — even as Rubio's softer language suggests the door to a negotiated understanding is still open.
What happens next
The immediate countdown is the 60-day assessment window. During that time, the administration will analyse the global impact of the sanctions measures — a review that covers energy prices, European compliance, and the behaviour of the two named targets, India and China. Bessent hinted at renewed outreach to European partners, and the administration retains the legal authority to impose the penalties whenever it chooses.
Bipartisan pressure in Washington will be the other force to watch. The Graham Act passed with overwhelming support, and lawmakers who voted for it expect the waiver to be a genuine pause, not a quiet burial. If the 60-day review concludes that Europe is still buying Russian energy at scale while India and China remain unpunished, the pressure to act — or at least to name and shame — will only grow. For now, the transatlantic sanctions front has its first public crack of the year.
Sources: NBC's Meet the Press (Scott Bessent interview, 19 October 2026); IANS (19 October 2026); ANI (18 October 2026); PTI (19 October 2026); The Hindu BusinessLine (19 October 2026); Livemint (19 October 2026); trending per news coverage.