US holds back China trade threats as it weighs Russia sanctions

By Flavia Krause-Jackson, Andrea Dudik and Natalia Drozdiak

  The US has held back from imposing secondary sanctions on China over its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine because broader trade negotiations are continuing, the US’s envoy to NATO said Tuesday. 

President Donald Trump has threatened to slap sanctions on buyers of Russian oil unless an agreement between Kyiv and Moscow can be reached to end the conflict that’s now well into its fourth year. So far the White House has only imposed the tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian crude, but not China. 

“President Trump has not put tariffs on China because those negotiations are ongoing. And the war in Ukraine is certainly part of that discussion,” US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told Bloomberg in an interview in Bled, Slovenia. 

“I don’t disagree those would be effective,” Whitaker said, adding that the last time Beijing and Washington were engaged in a tit-for-tat tariff battle, it culminated in 145% duties on both sides. “That’s not the way it’s going to resolve the situation both on trade with China and war of Russia and Ukraine,” he added, in a nod to the complexities of deploying such economic leverage.

Whitaker said that while the tariffs on India “have changed their calculation” about purchases of Russian energy, they are “probably not going to foster a closer relationship in trade with India.” 

With China, the ambassador nevertheless stressed that Trump “certainly knows that he has those cards to play” and may impose tariffs if he deems them necessary. Trump last month extended a trade truce with China for 90 days as the two sides also discuss a potential leaders’ meeting. 

The comments highlight how Trump’s goals to resolve trade imbalances with the US may be hamstringing his options in how to bring about an end to Russia’s war. 

 

France and Germany are now also pushing for secondary sanctions as their leaders lose patience with the American president’s reluctance to openly confront Russian President Vladimir Putin over his war in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron will host an in-person summit on Thursday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and some of the country’s top allies, including some leaders joining virtually. It’s unclear whether Trump will participate. 

The US president’s latest two-week deadline is close to expiring with little clear progress made toward a peace deal. Trump hailed progress in a summit with Putin in Alaska in August but that appeared to falter almost immediately, as Russian officials rejected the notion of robust security guarantees for Ukraine and didn’t commit to a meeting with Zelenskiy. 

--With assistance from Andrea Palasciano.