Dimon warns US tariffs on Russian oil could hurt India and global markets

Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, said the United States should not penalise India or the wider oil market as it moves to sanction Russian oil. He made the comment during a CNBC TV18 interview in Mumbai, where he is attending JPMorgan’s annual investment conference and meeting leaders of India’s biggest conglomerates. Dimon noted that refineries are built for particular grades of crude, so a sudden shift to different oil could strain plants and reduce efficiency. He urged Washington to consider these operational limits before imposing punitive measures. The banker added that the focus ought to be on supporting Ukraine through other means rather than imposing heavy tariffs on oil. Last week President Donald Trump signed a law named after Senator Lindsey Graham that expands presidential power to levy tariffs of up to 100 % on imports from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. The legislation targets China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan and was introduced in the Senate in April to cut Russia’s energy earnings. Hours after the House passed the bill, India’s foreign ministry warned that such tariffs could damage bilateral ties and destabilise global energy markets, saying it would take steps to protect its trade interests. Although India has been buying more oil from the US and Venezuela, Russia still supplied 51.1 % of India’s crude in July, a share larger than the combined imports from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Brazil, Oman and the United States, according to the Global Trade Research Initiative.