‘Expect Europeans to do their share now’: US holds back on China tariffs; Bessent says Europe must act first on Russian oil

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that the Trump administration will not move ahead with new tariffs on Chinese goods over Beijing’s Russian oil purchases unless European countries impose steep duties of their own.Speaking in a joint interview with Reuters and Bloomberg, Bessent stressed that Washington expects Europe to take a stronger role in reducing Moscow’s oil revenues. “We expect the Europeans to do their share now, and we are not moving forward without the Europeans,” he said.Bessent noted that US President Donald Trump has already imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian imports tied to Russian oil, and has urged European nations to introduce tariffs of 50% to 100% on China and India. He said he raised these points with Chinese officials during trade talks in Madrid, where the issue of TikTok was also discussed. According to Reuters, Chinese representatives insisted that oil purchases remain a “sovereign matter.”The treasury chief criticised some European states for continuing to buy Russian oil, while others import petroleum products refined in India from Russian crude. “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 choke off Moscow’s main source of income.

Trump has already said Europe’s sanctions are “not tough enough” and warned allies against fuelling Russia’s war economy. He has long pressed Nato partners to step up pressure on Beijing and New Delhi, although in recent weeks rhetoric towards India has softened as the US and India prepare for a new round of talks on Tuesday.Bessent claimed that the tariffs on Indian goods had already brought “substantial progress” in discussions with New Delhi. Meanwhile, he indicated Washington would work with European partners on tougher sanctions against Russian energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil, and explore using frozen Russian sovereign assets. Options include seizing small portions of the $300 billion in blocked funds or placing them in a special-purpose vehicle to back loans for Ukraine.The US and China recently reached a “basic framework consensus” on shifting ownership of TikTok from ByteDance to a US company, with leaders expected to discuss final terms later this week.