WASHINGTON – During a recent interview with Fox News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed worries about the effects of punishing China for continuing to buy Russian oil on a global scale. Rubio changed the subject to the bigger “implications” of such secondary penalties when asked if the US was thinking about punishing Europe for its energy deals with Russia. He said that if the US went after Russian oil deliveries to China, Beijing would just refine the oil and put it back on the market, which would make prices go up. He said, “Anyone who buys that oil would have to pay more for it or find another way to get it if it doesn’t exist.”
Rubio’s comments point up a possible double standard in how the US deals with countries who buy Russian oil. His comments come after President Donald Trump decided to raise tariffs on Indian goods by 25%. This was done to punish New Delhi for trading energy with Moscow. Many people have opposed the move, saying that China, which buys much more Russian oil, has not been punished in the same way.
The US official also talked about a Senate bill that would punish both India and China for buying Russian oil. This showed that “a number of European countries” were worried about what would happen if that happened.
A Changing Position and Different Ways of Doing Things
When asked before why India was being singled out, Trump had intimated that further actions were on the way. “You’re going to see a lot more…” He had said, “You’re going to see so many secondary sanctions.” But following his recent high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Trump seemed to change his mind and said he wouldn’t need to think about further tariffs on countries doing business with Russia right away. Trump told Fox News, “Well, because of what happened today, I don’t think I need to think about that (tariffs).”
This change of heart shows how complicated the geopolitical and economic factors are. The US has put pressure on India, which has called the tariffs “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.” So far, though, the US has not done the same to China, saying that the US-China relationship is more complicated.