India to Boost Oil and Gas Imports From U.S. to Avoid Trump Tariffs

By Rakesh Sharma and Sudhi Ranjan Sen (Bloomberg) —

India has agreed to boost oil and gas imports from the US in an effort to reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries and avoid retaliatory tariffs.

“I think we purchased about $15 billion in US energy output,” India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said during a media briefing in Washington on Thursday, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Donald Trump. “There is a good chance that this figure will go up as much as $25 billion.”

Misri added that it was “entirely possible increased energy purchases will contribute to impacting the deficit between India and US.”

State-owned companies attending India’s biggest annual energy gathering this week have sounded a similar note, saying t…