'India can be a manufacturing base': US trade representative on American firms moving from China

India has the manufacturing base and workforce to serve as an alternative destination for companies seeking to diversify away from China, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Fox News, Greer claimed that India has already begun reducing its purchases of Russian energy and expanding economic commitments to the United States, even as a broader trade deal is expected by March.

Asked whether India would shift away from Russian oil and commit to buying up to $500 billion in U.S. energy, aircraft, and technology over the next five years, Greer said, “The short answer is yes. They’ve already started winding down their purchases of Russian energy products. They started ramping back up purchases of American energy and energy from other sources.” 

“We talked to them about oil from Venezuela. Before 2022, the Indians didn’t really procure Russian oil. It’s an artifact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the discount they could get. They get oil from Russia, they refine and sell it to Europe. Europe and India were underwriting Russia’s war in Ukraine. But India is really committed. They started expanding some of their commitments with respect to purchases.”

He added that India had already begun addressing some U.S. concerns on taxation and tariffs. “They’ve taken down some digital services tax they had on us already, they’re moving to bring tariffs down. This is going to be a really important deal, and it’s going to reverberate for many years to come.”

Greer was also asked whether India could emerge as a viable supply-chain destination for American companies looking to reduce their dependence on China.

“It can be,” he said. “We know that many companies already are going that direction. We want the supply chains here in the United States, as close to home as possible…India can be a way station for that. They have a lot of folks there. They have manufacturing capacity. Of course, we want to make sure that American manufacturing is first and foremost. The American worker is first. But certainly to the extent we’re going to import from other countries, India can be a good source as long as it’s balanced and it’s fair.”

Greer’s remarks come as U.S. businesses weigh geopolitical risk, supply-chain resilience, and tariff structures in deciding where to relocate manufacturing. While Washington has said it prefers to bring supply chains closer to home, India is increasingly being positioned as a potential alternative destination.