NEW DELHI: Peter Navarro, Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing for US President Donald Trump, was fact-checked by readers on X on Saturday after he claimed India’s tariffs cost US jobs and its purchases of Russian oil were “purely to profit” and funding Moscow’s war machine.“FACTS: India highest tariffs costs US jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. US taxpayers shell out more,” Navarro said in a post on X.Navarro made the remarks in response to an article by the Washington Post, which described the conflicting efforts in Trump’s administration over mending the relationship with New Delhi.However, readers were quick to fact-check Navarro’s claims, noting India’s oil imports from Russia are for energy security and do not violate sanctions. They also pointed out that while India imposes some tariffs, the US enjoys a trade surplus in services, and itself continues to import certain commodities from Russia, calling Navarro’s remarks hypocritical.One user remarked, “Most oil bought by China (from Russia), you are so much afraid , can’t even utter a word or magnets are gone.”Another user said, “Your claim India’s tariffs kill US jobs is baseless. Automation, not India, drives manufacturing losses. India’s $41.8 billion US imports support jobs, while your 50% tariffs hurt US consumers.”

Navarro, in recent times, has repeatedly taken jibes at India. From calling it a “laundromat for the Kremlin”, to the castiest jibes such as “Brahmins are profiteering” from the conflict in Russia.Navarro, in an interview with Bloomberg Television last week, had alleged, “India is helping feed the Russian war machine. I mean Modi’s war, because the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi.”Rejecting at a weekly briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Navarro, and obviously, we reject them.”