New Delhi: The Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) urged the government on Wednesday to stand firm against any US attempt to use tariffs to dictate India’s oil purchases.
The RSS-affiliate also called upon the government to ensure that India-US trade negotiations are conducted on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual respect, and to refuse any demand that compromises the country’s agriculture, dairy sector, energy security or strategic autonomy.
In a statement, SJM national co-convener Ashwani Mahajan said the organisation deeply regrets the recently-passed US Senate legislation, authorising the president to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries that make significant oil purchases from Russia.
The legislation is yet to complete the full legislative process and the tariffs would not be imposed automatically, but it poses a serious threat to the principles of free and fair international trade and the sovereign right of countries to determine their own energy policies, the SJM said.
The organisation fully supports the government’s stand that India’s purchase of Russian crude is based on considerations of energy security, availability, pricing, diversification of supplies and the interests of Indian consumers, Mahajan said.
The SJM said India’s energy policy must be determined by its national interest and not by external political pressure, asserting that Russian crude has provided Indian refiners with an additional source of supply and helped diversify the country’s import basket.
This has not only eased inflationary pressure on Indian consumers, but has also helped in keeping energy prices low globally, including in the US, Mahajan added.
The organisation said the issue assumes significance as India and the United States are simultaneously engaged in negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement.
The SJM believes that trade negotiations between two sovereign countries must take place on the basis of mutual respect, reciprocity and equality, and not through threats of punitive tariffs, Mahajan said.
The SJM said it believes the proposed legislation will be used by the US administration as a pressure tactic in the ongoing India-US bilateral trade agreement negotiations, and urged the government to remain firm on its position on sensitive sectors, such as agriculture and dairy, as well as on India’s sovereign right to determine its energy policy.
The organisation, however, expressed unhappiness over two recent unnecessary goodwill gestures by the government to facilitate the India-US bilateral trade pact.
It referred to a government press note, under which it said restrictions on inventory have been removed for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in e-commerce, and claimed that the move will mainly benefit American e-commerce companies, including Amazon and Flipkart-Walmart, and work against Indian exporters.
The SJM urged the government to withdraw the notification allowing such e-commerce entities to hold inventories for exports.
It also opposed the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, saying it enables the introduction of the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions by amending section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act.
The SJM said UPI is the successful story of the decade and claimed that allowing banks and other notified electronic payment providers to impose the MDR will shift the balance in favour of global players, such as Visa and Mastercard.
The SJM also called upon nationalist and patriotic forces to join hands against unilateral actions by the US.
Mahajan said India should also impose a unilateral ban on US technology and social-media companies, alleging that some US social-media companies have adopted unethical and illegal tactics to create social unrest and endanger national security.
The SJM said this is the right time to impose a ban on such companies and called upon patriotic citizens to boycott products of US companies, such as Pepsi and Coke, as well as social-media and e-commerce platforms of American companies.
If US continues to act against India’s interests, this boycott can be extended to services of other US giants as well, it said.
