NEW YORK: A senior US lawmaker has said that President Donald Trump is "grasping for excuses" to "slap outrageous tariffs" on India for purchasing Russian oil, urging him to reverse this policy immediately.

"President Trump is grasping for excuses to slap outrageous tariffs on #India," Congressman Brad Sherman said in a social media post on Wednesday.

Sherman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as well as of the House Financial Services Committee, said in the post that Trump claims tariffs on India are about importing Russian oil.

"Yet Hungary imports 90% of its crude from Russia with no tariffs. And China, Russia's biggest oil buyer, hasn't been hit with sanctions tied to purchasing Russian oil, though it has been hit for other reasons.

"India gets just 21% of its crude from Russia, but our ally is being singled out. The President should reverse this policy immediately," Sherman said.

Earlier this month, the US and India announced that they reached a framework for an interim agreement on trade with Trump issuing an executive order removing the 25 per cent punitive tariffs imposed on India for its purchases of Russian oil.

The US president noted the commitment by New Delhi to stop directly or indirectly importing energy from Moscow and purchasing American energy products.

Under the trade deal, Washington will charge a reduced reciprocal tariff on New Delhi, lowering it from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.