India has manufacturing base and labor to serve as an alternative destination for companies looking to diversify away from China, US trade Rep. Jamieson Greer said Tuesday.

Speaking on Fox News, Greer said India has already begun reducing its purchases of Russian energy and expanding economic commitments with the United States, although a broader trade deal is expected by March.

Asked if India would move away from Russian oil and commit to buying up to $500 billion in US energy, aircraft and technology over the next five years, Greer said: “The short answer is yes. They’ve already started to reduce their purchases of Russian energy products. They started to increase their purchases of American power and energy from other sources.”

“We talked to them about oil from Venezuela. Before 2022, Indians weren’t really buying Russian oil. It’s an artifact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the discount they could get. They get oil from Russia, refine it and sell it to Europe. Europe and India were subsidizing Russia’s war on Ukraine. But India is really engaged. They started expanding some of their commitments to buy.”

He added that India had already started addressing some US concerns about taxes and tariffs. “They have already removed a tax on the digital services that they had on us, they are moving to reduce the rates. This will be a very important agreement and it will have repercussions for many years.”

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

“Could be,” he said. “We know a lot of companies are already moving in that direction. We want supply chains here in the U.S. as close to home as possible…India can be a starting point for that. They have a lot of people there. They have manufacturing capacity. Of course, we want to make sure that American manufacturing comes first. The American worker comes first. But certainly to the extent that we can import from other countries, India can be a good source. It’s balanced and it’s fair.”

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