Donald Trump has issued a 50-day ultimatum to Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine.
While speaking to the Oval Office on Monday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump shared he is “very unhappy” with Russia and has promised “very severe tariffs” on Moscow “if we don’t have a deal in 50 days.”
“I’m disappointed in President Putin, because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to get there. So based on that, we’re going to be doing secondary tariffs. If we don’t have a deal in 50 days, it’s very simple, and they’ll be at 100 percent, and that’s the way it is. That can be more simple. It’s just the way it is. I hope we don’t have to do it,” he said.
As it stands, Russia has almost no trade relationship with the US after sanctions implemented by Joe Biden as punishment to Moscow.
The tariffs Trump is planning to implement would be secondary sanctions put in place as punishment towards countries buying Russian oil.
This could double the cost of imports from China, India and Germany.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained that Trump was referring to secondary sanctions on countries using Russian petroleum and not tariffs on Russian goods.
“So it’s economic sanctions … you can also make an economic penalty: if I catch you doing it, then you’ll have to pay,” he said, adding that Trump has both sanctions and tariffs “in his toolbox”.
“I hope we don’t get to the point where we do, but I’ve been hearing so much talk. It’s all talk. It’s all talk. And then missiles go into Kyiv and kill 60 people,” he said.
