Trump floats possible tariffs on China for buying Russian oil

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said he could punish China with additional tariffs over its purchases of Russian oil, though one of his top advisers played down the likelihood.

Mr Trump floated that possibility on Aug 6 after

doubling tariffs on Indian goods

for buying Russian energy.

Responding to a reporter’s question on penalising China for the same reason, he said that “may happen.”

“I mean I don’t know. I can’t tell you yet. But I can – we did it with – we did it with India. We’re doing it probably with a couple of others. One of them could be China,” Mr Trump said in the White House.

Any additional levies on Chinese products would add to already high rates that sank the country’s exports to the US in recent months.

It’s also assured to invite retaliation from Beijing, which leveraged its control of rare-earth magnets to secure a deal with the US to lower tariffs earlier in 2025.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro suggested such action is unlikely because higher duties may hurt the US. 

“Let’s see what happens,” Mr Navarro told reporters. “We have over 50 per cent tariffs on China. We don’t want to get to a point where we hurt ourselves.” 

China’s Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

US-China ties have steadied after the two sides agreed to put sky-high tariffs on hold as they seek to negotiate an agreement.

The easing tensions raised the prospect of a summit between Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2025, although there remains unresolved issues including over the supply advanced AI chips. BLOOMBERG