China defends Russian oil buys after Trump's tariff threats

China defended its Russian oil imports as legitimate, responding to US pressure after Washington imposed secondary tariffs on India over its energy purchases from Moscow.

“It is legitimate and lawful for China to conduct normal economic, trade and energy cooperation with all countries around the world, including Russia,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday in a statement to Bloomberg News. “We will continue to adopt reasonable energy security measures in accordance with our national interests.”

US President Donald Trump said earlier this week he could punish China with additional tariffs over its purchases of Russian oil, saying “that may happen.”


“Let’s see what happens. You’re going to see a lot more... You’re going to see so much secondary sanctions,” Trump said, responding to a question on why India was being singled out despite other nations, including China, also buying Russian oil.

When asked about Trump’s comments on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that tariffs on China over oil purchases “could be on the table at some point.”

China’s imports from Russia edged up in July to $10.06 billion — the highest level since March — according to the latest customs data. But overall this year, imports from Russia are still down 7.7% compared to the same period in 2024.

"China is a much more sensible target for Trump’s ire if controlling Russia is really what he wants. Beijing provides far more meaningful support — economic and political — to President Vladimir Putin than New Delhi does," wrote Bloomberg's Mihir Sharma.

But China, it appears, is "too big for Trump to bully now." Its negotiators will likely be granted more time than others to come to a deal with the US, and it can continue to support Moscow with an impunity denied to India, he added.

US-China relations have stabilised after both countries agreed to pause steep tariffs while talks continue. Trump said this week he was “very close” to reaching a deal with China to extend the truce, which is set to expire on Tuesday.