US asks G7, EU to impose tariffs on India, China over Russian oil purchases

Group of Seven nations' finance ministers discussed in a call on Friday further sanctions on Russia and possible tariffs on countries that they consider "enabling" its war in Ukraine, as the US called on its allies to impose tariffs on purchasers of Russian oil.

Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne chaired the G7 meeting, which was held to discuss further measures to increase pressure on Russia to end its war against Ukraine, according to a statement from Canada, the head of the rolling G7 presidency.

The ministers agreed to speed up discussions to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's defence, and discussed a "wide range of possible economic measures to increase pressure on Russia, including further sanctions and trade measures, such as tariffs, on those enabling Russia's war effort," the statement said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told finance ministers during the call that they should join the US in imposing tariffs on countries that purchase oil from Russia, Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a separate statement following the meeting.

"Only with a unified effort that cuts off the revenues funding Putin's war machine at the source will we be able to apply sufficient economic pressure to end the senseless killing," Bessent and Greer said.

Bessent and Greer welcomed commitments made during the call to increase sanctions pressure and explore using immobilised Russian sovereign assets to benefit Ukraine's defence, according to the joint statement.

Earlier in the day, a US Treasury spokesperson called on G7 and European Union allies to impose "meaningful tariffs" on goods from China and India to pressure them to halt their purchases of Russian oil.

President Donald Trump has imposed an extra 25% tariff on imports from India to pressure New Delhi to halt its purchases of discounted Russian crude oil, bringing total punitive duties on Indian goods to 50% and souring trade negotiations between the two democracies.

But Trump has refrained from imposing additional tariffs on Chinese imports over China's purchases of Russian oil, as his administration navigates a delicate trade truce with Beijing.

Bessent is due to travel to Madrid on Friday for another round of talks with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, that will cover trade issues, Washington's demands for Chinese-owned TikTok to divest its US operations, and anti-money laundering issues.

Trump earlier on Friday said that his patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin was running out, but stopped short of threatening new sanctions during a Fox News interview.

Trump expressed frustration about Putin's failure to halt the war. He said sanctions on banks and oil were an option to increase pressure on Russia, but added that European countries also needed to participate.

"We're going to have to come down very, very strong," Trump said.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said NATO countries should impose 50 to 100 per cent tariffs on China and stop buying oil from Russia to help end the Ukraine conflict.

Trump’s post on Truth Social comes a day after the US asked G7 countries to impose tariffs on countries purchasing oil from Russia.

In his post, Trump said he is ready to impose “major sanctions” on Russia when all NATO countries agree and start to do the same thing and stop buying oil from Moscow.

The US President said that NATO’s commitment to win has been “far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian oil, by some, has been shocking!”.

“It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia,” he said.

Trump said that he is ready to “go ahead” when the NATO countries are.

The President said that the 50 per cent to 100 per cent tariffs on China will also be of “great help in ending this deadly, but ridiculous war”.

“China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful tariffs will break that grip,” he said.

Trump also said that the Ukraine war is “not his conflict” and it would never have started if he was president.

“It is Biden’s and Zelenskyy’s war. I am only here to help stop it, and save thousands of Russian and Ukrainian lives…If NATO does as I say, the war will end quickly, and all of those lives will be saved! If not, you are just wasting my time, and the time, energy, and money of the United States,” he said.

The US has imposed an additional 30 per cent tax on imports from China while Beijing has responded with a 10 per cent tax on imports from Washington.

At one point, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 per cent before the two countries agreed in May to end the tit-for-tat tariff war.

(With PTI inputs)