US President Donald Trump has called on NATO allies to impose sweeping tariffs of 50 to 100 per cent on China, arguing that such measures would weaken Beijing’s economic backing of Russia and ultimately help bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
In a letter addressed to NATO nations on Saturday, Trump urged members of the 32-state alliance to halt imports of Russian oil and coordinate on harsher sanctions against Moscow. He also tied action by the United States to collective measures, writing on social media:
“I am ready to impose major sanctions on Russia when all NATO nations have agreed, and started to do the same thing, and when all NATO nations stop buying oil from Russia.”
Trump added that NATO-wide tariffs on China, to be lifted only once the Russia–Ukraine conflict ends, would “be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR.”
NATO Divisions Over Russian Oil
The proposal spotlights ongoing fractures within NATO. Türkiye remains the third-largest buyer of Russian oil after China and India, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Other alliance members, including Hungary and Slovakia, also continue to rely on Russian imports, complicating efforts to build a united sanctions front.
Trump has previously threatened secondary sanctions on countries purchasing Russian energy, including India and China, if progress is not made towards ending the conflict.
Rising Tensions in Eastern Europe
The letter comes amid heightened unease following the recent incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace, a move viewed as an escalatory challenge against a NATO member.
Last month, Trump raised trade tensions further by slapping an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi’s continued oil imports from Russia. Notably, he has not yet imposed comparable penalties on China, despite naming it as Moscow’s primary economic lifeline.
