India is likely to keep purchasing crude oil from Russia, as the US Supreme Court, in its decision last week, invalidated the import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, reported the news portal CNBC, citing industry analysts.
Sarang Shidore, director of the Global South Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told the news portal that India is expected to maintain a “healthy relationship” with Russia, including that of energy trade.
The expert said that India may reduce its Russian oil imports but is unlikely to stop buying crude oil from the nation.
Has India paused Russian oil imports?
Energy sector data provider, Kpler — India, has imported 1.16 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil so far this month (February), which is lower than the average import volume of 1.71 million bpd in 2025.
Muyu Xu, a senior research analyst for crude oil at Kpler, told the news portal that although it is too early for any predictions on the March and April data, the “market chatter indicates” that Indian oil refining companies have refrained from purchasing Russian oil delivery for April 2026 this month after the India-US interim trade deal update.
Analysing the US Supreme Court‘s order from Friday, last week, Xu highlighted that India now has a margin to maintain Russian oil imports between 800,000 and 1 million barrels per day.
While Sarang Shidore highlighted that Donald Trump’s ability to amend the US tariffs over reasons like importing Russian oil or other similar factors is expected to be constrained due to the court verdict.
What was US Supreme Court’s ruling?
Mint reported earlier that on Friday, 20 February 2026, the US Supreme Court invalidated the import tariffs which President Trump imposed on foreign nations last year, calling them illegally imposed under a national emergency law.
However, after the court’s ruling, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a 10% tariff rate under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act on foreign nations, which gives the President the power to mandate the rates for a 150-day period to address balance-of-payment deficits in the US economy.
After the 150-day period, as per the law, Trump has to obtain approval from the US Congress to extend the period of the import duty rates.
According to a Reuters report, the United States have started collecting the newly imposed 10% tariffs on all items imported from foreign nations, while the federal government is working to increase the duties to 15%.
Trump on India importing Russian oil
India importing Russian oil has been a raging issue in the Trump administration, which led to the US President imposing raging combined tariff of 50% on India in 2025.
In August 2025, Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on India, citing the country’s crude oil dealings with Russia. Trump also claimed that India was “fueling (Russia’s) war machine” against Ukraine.
This additional tariff was on top of the 25% reciprocal tariffs on all goods imported into the US from India. After the interim trade agreement earlier this month, the US has decided to eliminate the 25% tariff and reduce the overall rate to 18% duty, from the earlier 50% rate.
This comes after India and the US have come to this point after intense negotiations, and New Delhi has “committed to stop directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil”, and will purchase “energy products from the United States.”