Last week, US President Donald Trump demanded that his European allies impose a 100% tariff against China and India for importing oil from Russia. He apparently promised the European envoy that he would match Europe and impose similar tariffs against both countries.
Trump has accused China and India of funding the war in Ukraine by importing oil from Russia.
This was confirmed by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday in an interview with Reuters. He claimed that his country will not impose more tariffs on China and India over Russian oil imports until the Europeans do it.
In response, China reiterated that no amount of external pressure or coercion will make it compromise its “sovereignty, security and development interests” and warned that if its “legitimate rights and interests are harmed” in any way it will “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard” them.
The Chinese warning was repeated by Lin Jian, official spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a press conference on Monday, September 15.
Later on Saturday, Trump demanded NATO members halt all oil imports from Russia, promising to match their sanctions against it.
Despite imposing sweeping sanctions against Russia and helping the Ukrainian side’s war efforts, some European countries and US allies continue to import Russian gas and oil. Turkey, a member of NATO, is the third largest importer of Russian oil after China and India.
The US president claimed that if European and NATO members stop buying oil from Russia and impose tariffs on countries that import it, namely, China and India, it may help him end the war.
Trump also promised his allies in Europe that their combined moves would loosen Beijing’s alleged “control” over Russia.
Dialogue is the only way to peace
Lin denied that China supports the war in Ukraine in any way, claiming that his country’s trade with Russia follows World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and market principles and does not target any third country.
Lin Jian reiterated China’s position on the war in Ukraine that “dialogue and negotiation is the only way out of the crisis.”
“What the US has done is a typical move of unilateralism, bullying and economic coercion,” Lin said, claiming that such threats and actions disrupt global industrial and supply chains instead of resolving the issue.
“China firmly opposes the relevant party [the US] directing the issue at it” and “abusing illicit unilateral sanctions and long term jurisdiction against” it.
Meanwhile, following Trump’s pressure, G7 countries held a meeting on Friday of last week to discuss new sanctions on Russia and possible tariffs on countries it blames for “enabling” the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
The US has already imposed a 25% additional tariff on India for importing Russian oil.
India imported around 88 million tons of oil from Russia last year, amounting to 35% of its total energy needs. India resells most of the imported Russian oil to other countries, mostly in Europe.
However, the US has refrained from imposing similar tariffs on China, which imported over 100 million tons of crude oil from Russia – around 20% of its annual needs – last year.
Trump’s push on his allies to impose tariffs on China comes amidst ongoing bilateral trade talks with China in Madrid, Spain. The talks are focused on resolving outstanding issues between the two countries, including the issue of TikTok.
Li Chenggang, China’s international trade representative with the Ministry of Commerce told the media on Monday that the talks in Madrid are going smoothly and the US recognizes that “a stable China-US economic and trade relationship is of great significance to both countries and also has a major impact on global economic stability,” Xinhua reported.
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