VP: India Secondary Tariffs Economic Leverage to End Russia War
Vice President JD Vance said that the U.S. is imposing secondary tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, and not China, because China already has high tariffs.
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Vance, who was asked what pressure the U.S. is bringing to bear on Russia on "Meet the Press," said the additional 25% tariffs on Indian goods set to take effect Aug. 27 are designed "to make it harder for the Russians to get rich from their oil economy. President Donald Trump has "tried to make it clear that Russia can be reinvited into the world economy if they stop the killing, but they're going to continue to be isolated if they don't stop the killing," Vance said.
The host asked Vance why not tariff China, since they buy as much oil from Russia as India does, if not more, and Vance pointed to the combined fentanyl, reciprocal and Section 301 tariffs on China, which he said tally 54%; outside economists estimate the effective rate for Chinese imports now is a little over 57%.
"So we've already applied pretty hefty sanctions on the Chinese. And we've had a number of conversations at all levels of government to try to encourage the Chinese to be better partners in bringing this war to a close. So again, I think the question betrays a misunderstanding of what's going on. We are applying aggressive economic pressure to bring this war to a close," Vance said. "Maybe we'll apply, apply additional pressure. Maybe if we feel like we're making progress we'll dial that pressure back. That give and take is part of the negotiation that we think is working. It hasn't reached its final outcome yet, but we're going to keep on working on this process for as long as we can."
He also said sanctions aren't off the table, but he thinks sanctions aren't enough to get the Russians to stop attacking. "If you look at the way the Russians have conducted themselves, they don't want a ceasefire," he said. "What we do believe though is that we continue to have a lot of cards. The president of the United States has a lot of cards left to play to apply pressure to try to bring this conflict to a close, and that's what we're going to do."
President Donald Trump on Aug. 25 vaguely addressed the possibility of more pressure on Russia. When asked what happened to his threat of severe consequences for Russia if its leader didn't agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump replied, "There could be very big consequences, we’ll see what happens."
He added, "This is something that has to end. We’ll see what happens over the next week or two. At that point, I will step in very strongly. We’ll either have a deal or we won’t."