US President Donald Trump is unlikely to follow through on his threat to impose 100% tariffs on countries importing Russian oil, Reuters reports.
In July, Trump said that if Russia does not sign a comprehensive peace agreement with Ukraine within 50 days by early September, he will impose tariffs on all countries that continue to import Russian oil.
However, analysts and experts doubt the feasibility of implementing this policy, given its potential economic consequences. According to Fernando Ferreira, director of geopolitical risk at Rapidan Energy Group, such a decision could be a severe blow to global markets.
“Secondary tariffs could be too harsh a tool for the US administration to use against Russia,” Ferreira said. “If you are prepared to remove more than 4.5 million barrels of oil per day from the market and cut off trade with countries just because they import Russian oil, you are seriously risking a sharp increase in oil prices and a global economic crisis.”
According to Reuters, this threat is reminiscent of another statement made in March, when Trump promised to impose tariffs on Venezuelan oil importers. However, since that promise, no such restrictions have been implemented, despite a significant increase in Venezuelan oil exports.
