Trump floats 200% tariffs on Ukraine and Russia to end the war

US President Donald Trump has suggested imposing 200% import tariffs on Ukraine and Russia as a means of pressure to bring the war to an end. He made the remarks during a campaign event in Florida, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

Trump said he believed trade tariffs had helped the US end five of eight armed conflicts. “Maybe we should do that immediately with Ukraine and Russia. I hadn’t thought about it. But we don’t buy enough from them for it to work,” the US president said.

Trump thus acknowledged that the effectiveness of such a measure would be limited by the small volume of US imports from both countries. However, he did not announce any specific plans to introduce new tariffs.

Earlier, Trump exercised his authority to suspend the implementation of sanctions, restrictions and tariffs provided for under legislation associated with Senator Lindsey Graham. The bill included 500% tariffs on Russian goods and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas, as well as countries helping Moscow circumvent oil sanctions. Trump cited US national interests as the reason for not implementing these measures. Sanctions against Russia that were in force before the bill was passed remained in place.

Tags: USA, duties, war, Ukraine, Russia