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US' reported attempt to pressure G7 countries to hit China, India with tariffs over Russian oil shows its hegemony, will backfire: expert

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Sep 12, 2025 11:59 AM

The US reportedly will pressure the G7 to impose steep tariffs on China and India over their purchases of Russian oil, a move that a Chinese expert described as another attempt by Washington to use tariffs as a tool of hegemony.

The expert warned that this would not only further disrupt global trade but also strain relations with US allies and major trading partners such as China and India.

The US will pressure G7 countries to hit India and China with sharply higher tariffs for buying Russian oil in an attempt to force Moscow into peace talks with Ukraine, Financial Times reported on Friday, citing four unnamed people briefed on the plans.

In a video call on Friday, finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading economies will discuss a US proposal for a round of new measures as the US President Donald Trump steps up efforts to broker a peace deal in Ukraine, according to the report.

A US Treasury department spokesperson declined to state a figure for the planned tariffs but people familiar with the situation said the US had proposed levels of between 50 and 100 percent, the Financial Times reported.

This latest move came right after the US president this week urged the EU to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on China and India, but is now expanding the push to include G7 allies, according to the report.

The US is not able to win its-provoked tariff war and is therefore working to bind Europe and other allies to its strategic orbit, Bao Jianyun, dean and professor of the Department of International Politics at the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Friday.

However, before the Russia-Ukraine conflict, EU-Russia trade far exceeded that of the US, and Europe was already paying a much higher price than the US, Bao said.

According to data from Eurostat, in 2021, the bilateral trade volume between the EU and Russia reached 257.5 billion euros (around $302 billion).

While overall trade between the US and Russia in two-way goods totaled $36.1 billion in 2021, it remained far below EU-Russia trade levels, according to media reports.

He noted that if Europe spoils its trade ties with China and India, the consequences could be unbearable.

Bao further warned that the US's one-sided demand for its allies to impose high tariffs on others would not only intensify tensions between the US and its allies but also risk further disruption to global supply chains already affected by existing US tariffs.

Should the corresponding countermeasures take effect, the global trade landscape could change dramatically: the US's dominance would decline significantly, and its alliance system would gradually fragment and realign, the expert said.

Responding to a media inquiry about reports that the US president told European officials personally that he's willing to impose sweeping new tariffs on India and China to push Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table with Ukraine — but only if EU nations do so as well, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press conference on Wednesday that "China's position on the Ukraine crisis is objective and just. China did not create the crisis, nor is China a party to it."

We oppose making an issue of China or imposing so-called "economic pressure" on us, Lin said.

Previous, responding to media inquiry for comment that US Treasury Secretary warned that if China continues to buy Russian oil, China may face higher tariffs, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun also said that China will take energy supply measures that are right for China based on our national interests.

"Tariff wars have no winners. Coercion and pressuring cannot solve problems. China will firmly safeguard its own sovereignty, security and development interests," Guo said.