US President used tariffs as diplomatic tool to buy justice: Lutnick

US President Donald Trump used tariffs as a diplomatic tool to “buy justice” and had urged India to “stop buying oil” from Russia to help end the Ukraine war, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has claimed.

Lutnick made the remarks in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, defending Trump’s use of tariff powers as the Supreme Court heard arguments on its legality.

The court is examining whether it was lawful for Trump to use emergency powers under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including India.

“The President is using these taxes to buy justice; he is using the tariffs to end the war in Russia and Ukraine, where he has told India ‘stop buying oil’,” Lutnick said, adding that restricting these powers (IEEPA) would weaken Trump’s ability to make “the world and the US a safer place”.

Expressing confidence, he said the US President would win the case because “these powers protect America”.