‘Ukraine war will end in 90 days if…’: Bessent says new US tariff on China only after Europe acts

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that the Trump administration will not impose new tariffs on Chinese goods over Beijing’s purchases of Russian oil unless European countries also act with steep duties of their own.

In a joint interview with Reuters, Bessent said Europe must take a stronger role in cutting off Russia’s oil revenues to help end the war in Ukraine.

“We expect the Europeans to do their share now, and we are not moving forward without the Europeans,” Bessent said, when asked if Washington would impose oil-related tariffs on Chinese goods after President Donald Trump’s decision to slap an additional 25% duty on Indian imports.

Bessent said he reminded Chinese officials during talks in Madrid—covering trade and TikTok—that the US had already targeted Indian goods, while Trump has urged European nations to impose tariffs of 50% to 100% on China and India to squeeze Moscow’s energy revenues. According to him, the Chinese side responded that oil purchases are a “sovereign matter.”

He also criticized European countries still buying Russian oil or petroleum products refined in India from discounted Russian crude, saying such trade helped finance a war “in their own back yard.”

“I guarantee you that if Europe put on substantial secondary tariffs on the buyers of Russian oil, the war would be over in 60 or 90 days,” Bessent said, arguing that such measures would cut off Moscow’s main source of income.

Bessent added that the US is ready to work with Europe on tougher sanctions against Russian firms, including major oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil, and to explore greater use of frozen Russian sovereign assets seized after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.