WASHINGTON, September 15. /TASS/. The Washington administration does not intend to impose additional duties on products from China due over the purchases of Russian oil, unless the European allies do so, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters and Bloomberg in an interview.
"We expect the Europeans to do their share now, and we are not moving forward without the Europeans," Bessent said, when asked whether the US would impose Russian oil-related tariffs on Chinese goods after US President Donald Trump slapped an additional 25% duties on Indian imports.
On September 13, Trump said he was ready to impose tough sanctions on Russia if all members of the North Atlantic Alliance acted together and stopped buying Russian oil. He noted that the continued import of Russian energy by some NATO allies weakened the negotiating positions of the alliance. He also called on the NATO countries to impose import duties against China in the amount of 50-100%. According to him, this will help put an end to the Ukrainian crisis, but at the same time such tariffs can be abolished after a peaceful settlement.
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian, Beijing will take decisive retaliatory measures if the NATO countries, under pressure from the United States, try to impose duties under the pretext of its purchases of Russian oil.