In response to China's purchases of Russian oil, US Vice-President J.D. Vance stated that President Donald Trump is "thinking" of imposing fresh taxes on Chinese imports.
Popular media houses inquired Vance if Trump will take the same action against Beijing as he did against New Delhi last week, when the president imposed a hefty 25 percent tariff on Indian imports as the South Asian nation had persisted in buying Russian oil in spite of his repeated warnings.
Trump promised to halt Russia's assault against Ukraine "on day one" of his presidency throughout his campaign. He has attempted, with little success, to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the crisis for more than six months.
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Beijing's embassy in Washington responded to Vance's remarks by stating that international law governs China's trade with Russia.
Trump's executive order, which uses his emergency presidential powers to impose additional tariffs on Indian goods, does not specifically name China but gives the US government broad authority to keep an eye on any nation "directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil" and to suggest whether similar tariffs should be applied.
Vance changed his focus from discussing potential more tariffs on Chinese imports to defending tariffs as a useful "negotiating tool."
Threatening to levy tariffs is “an incredible negotiating tool, because when you tell countries that have access to American markets … [that] you can’t get into America’s market unless you pay a big fat tariff or open up your own markets – you’ve seen this happen with the European Union, you’ve seen this happen with countries in Asia, all over the world – they’re opening up their markets to American goods”, Vance said.
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China has been Russia's economic lifeblood as the biggest importer of Russian oil, leading some Western nations to accuse Beijing of covertly aiding Moscow's conflict in Ukraine, which is currently in its fourth year.
According to Chinese customs data, China purchased a record 108.5 million tons of Russian oil last year, which accounted for about 20 percent of its total imports of the commodity.