Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump announced reducing tariffs on Indian goods from a whooping 50% to 18%, following the conclusion of a trade deal and New Delhi’s promise to stop buying Russian oil.
However, a new US sanctions threat is hanging over New Delhi, one that would penalize not only Indian exports to the US but also India’s defense deals with Washington.
The new sanctions could not only impact India’s substantial defense purchases from the US, including 31 MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian Armed Drones, AH-64E Apache Attack Helicopters, Stryker Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICV), and Javelin Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, but could also jeopardize India’s indigenous fighter jet program Tejas, which depends on American GE jet engines.
The US is considering imposing sanctions on Algeria over its purchase of Russian Su-57 fighter jets.
Robert Palladino, the US State Department’s Middle East affairs officer, stated at a meeting of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the arms deals with Russia are “very concerning” and could lead to US sanctions against Algeria under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
“We are working closely with the Algerian government on issues where we find common ground. At the same time, we have serious differences on many other topics, and the arms deal is an example of what the United States considers problematic,” Palladino said.
He added that Washington is currently using existing diplomatic tools “to protect our interests and stop what we consider unacceptable.”
In 2025, Algeria confirmed its purchase of the Russian Su-57 fighter jet, becoming the first export customer for the stealth fighter.
According to leaked Rostec documents in October last year, Algeria has purchased 12 Su-57 jets from Russia, scheduled for delivery between 2024 and 2026.
In November 2025, it was reported that Algeria might have already received the first two Su-57 fighter jets.
“They have entered combat duty and are demonstrating their best qualities. Our customer is satisfied,” United Aircraft Corporation CEO Vadim Badekha confirmed.
Notably, the US warnings on imposing CAATSA sanctions on Algeria have direct relevance for India, which is reportedly considering purchasing two to three squadrons of the Russian fifth-generation fighter jets.
Will India Face CAATSA Sanctions Over Su-57 Deal?
India’s state-run aerospace major, HAL, is considering a co-production offer from Russia for the Su-57, evaluating costs and production volumes.
According to reports, HAL is considering an offer to co-produce two to three squadrons of Russia’s fifth-generation fighter jet to meet the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) requirement for an interim stealth fighter to plug the projected 10-year operational gap until the induction of the AMCA, India’s planned indigenous stealth fighter.
Separately, earlier this month, HAL signed an agreement with Russia’s UAC for licensed production of the advanced Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SJ-100) civil commuter aircraft in India.
The HAL-UAC agreement on SJ-100 further boosted the chances of a deal on Su-57 production in India.
However, following recent developments, India will have to factor in the possibility of CAATSA sanctions if it moves ahead with an agreement for the Su-57 fighter jet.
Notably, Russia’s state-owned Rostec, the parent company of UAC, has been under the US’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List since 2022.
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 70 entities, many of which are critical to the Russian Federation’s defense industrial base, including State Corporation Rostec, the cornerstone of Russia’s defense, industrial, technology, and manufacturing sectors, as well as 29 Russian individuals,” the US treasury department has said in a statement in February 2022.
These sanctions could also trigger secondary sanctions on any country or entity that deals with Rostec.
Rostec is also sanctioned by many other countries, including the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and New Zealand.
However, if India moves ahead with the Su-57 deal and the US also imposes stringent CAATSA sanctions on New Delhi, it could also affect India’s defense deals with the US.
Under CAATSA, the United States can effectively ban or severely restrict the export of defense weapons/technology to sanctioned persons or entities.
This occurs primarily through secondary sanctions under Section 231, which targets significant transactions with Russia’s defense or intelligence sectors.
Section 235 of the CAATSA Act says, “The President may order the United States Government not to issue any specific license and not to grant any other specific permission or authority to export any goods or technology to the sanctioned person.”
Notably, in 2020, the US imposed CAATSA sanctions on Turkey under section 231 to penalise Ankara for its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.
The sanctions led to Turkey’s removal from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.
This was significant, as Turkey was not only a strategic partner of the US but also a member of NATO. Turkey has still not been readmitted to the F-35 program.
At the same time, it must be noted that if the US does impose CAATSA sanctions on Algeria, it does not mean an automatic expansion to India as well, as historically India has received preferential treatment from Washington on such issues.
For instance, India bought 5 regiments of S-400 from Russia in 2018; around the same time, Turkey purchased its single S-400 regiment. However, while Ankara was slapped with CAATSA sanctions, no such penalty was imposed on New Delhi.
In fact, in July 2022, the US House of Representatives passed a legislative amendment granting India a waiver from the punitive CAATSA sanctions for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia. Though this was a non-binding recommendation.
Similarly, India also received a limited sanctions waiver for Chabahar Port in Iran.
In October 2025, after negotiations, the US Treasury granted India a conditional six-month sanctions waiver until April 2026.
This allows India to continue operations at Chabahar without immediate secondary sanctions.
Additionally, last year, Trump offered India its F-35 stealth fighter jets, despite India also operating the Russian S-400 air defense system.
These examples show that, even in the case of the Su-57, India could receive preferential treatment and a specific waiver from CAATSA sanctions.
However, President Trump has also shown that he can go against bipartisan support for India.
While New Delhi was able to buy Russian oil and still maintain friendly relations with the US under the Biden administration, Trump did not shy away from imposing hefty tariffs on India for the same reason.
India, therefore, should proceed cautiously on the Su-57 agreement, as not only is New Delhi awaiting deliveries of many crucial defense platforms such as MQ-9B Drones, Apache Helicopters, Stryker Combat Vehicles, and Javelin Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, but it also depends on the US for the continued production of its indigenous Tejas fighter jets.
In the coming years, HAL has to deliver 180 Tejas MK1A fighter jets to the IAF, for which GE will supply engines. CAATSA sanctions could jeopardize this whole program.
It would be interesting to see how India proceeds on the Su-57 deal.
