The U.S. is urging G7 allies to impose tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil, with India and China seen as the main targets. Trump officials say only “unified pressure” can choke off Putin’s war machine in Ukraine.
The United States has ramped up pressure on its G7 partners, calling on them to levy tariffs against nations buying Russian crude in a bid to cut off Moscow’s wartime revenues.
During a call with G7 finance ministers on Friday, September 12, 2025, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer repeated President Donald Trump’s demand that G7 unity is critical to ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“If they are truly committed to ending the war in Ukraine, they should join the United States in imposing tariffs on countries purchasing oil from Russia,” the U.S. Treasury said in a statement.
While no countries were explicitly named, Washington has repeatedly singled out India and China as major buyers of Russian oil. Trump has already slapped 50% tariffs on Indian goods, including a 25% surcharge directly linked to New Delhi’s oil imports from Russia — a move India blasted as “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.”
🇮🇳 Strained U.S.–India Trade Relations
India, which insists its energy purchases are driven by national interest and market dynamics, has been locked in trade talks with Washington since March. Five rounds of negotiations have been completed, but the sixth round was postponed last month after Trump imposed the steep tariffs.
The tariffs threaten to derail plans to conclude the first phase of a new India–U.S. bilateral trade agreement by fall 2025.
Trump defended the move in a Fox & Friends interview Friday:
“Look, India was their biggest customer. I put a 50% tariff on India because they’re buying oil from Russia. That’s not an easy thing to do. That’s a big deal and it causes a rift with India.”
🌍 Canada’s G7 Presidency
Friday’s G7 finance ministers’ meeting, chaired by Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, also addressed:
- Russia’s airspace violation of Poland earlier in the week
- Recent escalated bombings in Ukraine
- Using immobilised Russian sovereign assets to finance Ukraine’s defence
“G7 Ministers agreed to accelerate discussions to further use immobilised Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine’s defence,” Champagne posted on X.
The U.S. said it welcomed those commitments but stressed that only tariffs on Russian oil buyers would deliver the economic knockout blow.
With Trump doubling down on tariffs, Washington is betting that economic coercion — even at the cost of straining ties with India — is the fastest path to squeezing Putin’s war chest.
