Trump yet to decide on tariffs over China’s Russian oil purchases: Vance

US Vice President J.D. Vance said President Trump is still deciding on imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil, highlighting complexities in US-China relations. The US recently imposed a 50% tariff on India for similar purchases, drawing criticism from New Delhi.

New York: US President Donald Trump has not yet decided on imposing levies on China for purchasing oil from Russia, as Washington’s ties with Beijing “affect many things that have nothing to do with the Russian situation”, Vice President J D Vance has said.

“Well, the President said he’s thinking about it, but he hasn’t made any firm decisions,” Vance told Fox News Sunday.

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He was responding to a question about Trump imposing significant tariffs on countries like India for buying Russian oil and whether Washington will impose similar levies on China since Beijing also buys Russian oil.

“Obviously the China issue is a little bit more complicated because our relationship with China, it affects a lot of other things that have nothing to do with the Russian situation,” Vance said.

He added that Trump is “reviewing his options, and of course, going to make that decision when he decides.”

The US had initially imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and Trump last week slapped another 25 per cent levies on Delhi for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties on India to 50 per cent, among the highest imposed by the US on any country in the world.

The additional 25 per cent duty will come into effect from August 27.

India slammed the move as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.

“It is extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement in Delhi, adding that India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests.