President Trump threatens secondary tariffs on Russian oil
Mr. Donald Trump intends to impose tariffs of 25% to 50% on all oil exported from Russia.
According to RIA Novosti, US President Donald Trump said he will impose secondary tariffs on oil exports from Russia if there is no agreement with Moscow to end the conflict in Ukraine.
NBC News quoted President Trump as saying: “If Russia and I cannot come to an agreement to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it is Russia's fault – which it may not be – then I will put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming into the country from Russia.”
Mr Trump also threatened possible consequences for countries importing oil from Russia if he imposed such sanctions on Moscow.
“That means if you buy oil from Russia, you can't do business in the United States,” Mr. Trump said.
The US leader made it clear that he plans to impose tariffs of 25% to 50% on all oil exported from Russia.
Mr. Trump also added that he plans to call Russian President Vladimir Putin again soon.
Russia has repeatedly said it will respond to the growing pressure of sanctions. Mr. Putin has noted that the policy of containing and weakening Moscow is a long-term Western strategy and that the sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. According to Mr. Putin, the main goal of Russia's opponents is to make the lives of millions of people worse.
At the same time, Western countries have repeatedly said that sanctions are ineffective against Russia.
Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), told the Izvestia newspaper that Moscow and Washington have started discussions on various rare earth metals and projects in Russia.
“Rare earth metals are an important area of cooperation and of course we have started discussions on various rare earth metals and projects in Russia,” Mr. Dmitriev said.
According to Mr. Dmitriev, a number of companies have shown interest in the projects.
At a meeting on the development of the rare earth metals industry in late February, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the development of this industry is necessary to successfully compete in the global market and develop the most important sectors of the country's economy.
Furthermore, Mr. Putin declared that Russia is ready to give the US opportunities for cooperation in the field of rare earth metals.
President Donald Trump said in mid-March that Russia has valuable natural resources, including the world's largest deposits of rare earth metals that Washington is interested in.
