Trump thinking of tariffs on China for buying Russian oil but yet to take decision: JD Vance

After India, United States President Trump is thinking of slapping tariffs on China for buying oil from Russia, said Vice President JD Vance, but the decision is yet to be taken.

China’s imports from Russia edged up in July to just over $10 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 with the same period in 2024.

China on Trump's secondary tariffs
China said its imports of Russian oil are justified, pushing back against US threats of new tariffs after Washington slapped secondary levies on India for buying energy 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.”

Although Trump has warned over China’s purchases of Russian oil, his top adviser Peter Navarro played down the likelihood of new tariffs on Chinese exports, saying higher duties “may hurt the US.”

Penalty on India
Previously, US President Donald Trump last week announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on US imports from India -- raising the overall duty to 50 per cent -- as a penalty for the country's continued imports of Russian oil.

India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Consequently, from a mere 1.7 per cent share in total oil imports in 2019-20 (FY20), Russia's share increased to 35.1 per cent in FY25, and it is now the biggest oil supplier to India.

In terms of volume, India imported 88 million tonnes from Russia in FY25, out of the total shipment of 245 million tonnes.