Trump announces new sanctions against Russia oil buyers, also affected China

Trump announces new sanctions against Russia oil buyers, also affected China

President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that further sanctions for countries that buy Russian energy products are imminent. This happens after a 25%customs to be introduced for India and comes into force on Thursday.

increased pressure on Russia

"You will see a lot more. This is just a foretaste," said Trump in the Oval Office. "You will still watch many secondary sanctions." These measures are part of Trump's risky plan to weaken the Russian economy due to the war in Ukraine. He had set a deadline until Friday, within which Russia's President Vladimir Putin is supposed to make peace, otherwise economic punishments would be imposed.

background of the sanctions

Earlier US sanctions, also under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, have seriously added to the Russian economy, but did not stop Putin's war-makers. This new strategy is an escalation of Trump's use of tariffs, which is a central instrument in its second term. He has already used it to pursue a comprehensive agenda that extends from the securing of US production to pressure on foreign governments on political issues.

sanctions against third countries

These "secondary tariffs" force third countries to make a decision: either to caps the relationships with a US opponent or take the risk of further sanctions. While Trump spoke optimistically about progress during a meeting between Putin and the US envoy Steve Witkoff, he indicated that this was not enough to avert new sanctions.

China's role

The largest buyer of Russian energy is China with whom Trump tries to negotiate a new trade agreement. US officials reported considerable progress in these conversations. Nevertheless, Trump did not rule out secondary sanctions, even though this could endanger the trade talks. "One of them could be China," he said. "That could happen. I don't know. I can't tell you yet."

China's reaction

China had previously stated that it will take "energy supply measures that make sense for China in accordance with our national interests". "Customs wars have no winners," said the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiakun, during a press briefing last week. "Problems and pressure cannot solve problems. China stubbornly defend its own sovereignty, security and development interests."

planned trade talks

The USA and China are still working on extending a commerce that prevents the introduction of three -digit tariffs, while this period expires on August 12th. China's exports rose before this impending date and exceeded expectations with growth of 7.2 % in July compared to the previous year, which was faster than 5.8 % in June.

India's answer to the tariffs

Trump's threats to secondary tariffs have increased the tensions between Washington and one of its most important trading partners. On Wednesday, he announced far -reaching and high tariffs in India, which keep the punishments on the fifth largest economy in the world at one of the highest levels that the United States have ever raised. In addition to the 25%customs that comes into force on Thursday, Trump also announced another 25%customs to the import of Russian oil and gas from India, which is to come into force this month.

India reacted to Trump's customs escalation and defended his imports of Russian oil. "We have already clearly presented our position on these topics, including the fact that our imports are based on market conditions and with the overarching goal of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people in India," said an explanation of the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the United States decides to impose additional tariffs due to measures that also take other countries in their national interest."