President Trump announced Monday that the United States will enact tariffs of 100% on nations conducting business with Russia if a peace agreement ending the Ukraine conflict is not reached within 50 days, which would be on September 2. The warning marks a push towards secondary sanctions, reflecting Trump’s deepening frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We’re going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don’t have a deal within 50 days. It’s very simple,” said Trump in his Oval Office on Monday alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “And they’ll be at 100%.”
Expressing dissatisfaction, Trump remarked that talks with Russia have gone nowhere, citing that after every reassuring call, missiles strike Kyiv or elsewhere. He said that this is a cycle that makes words meaningless with Russia.
On military aid, Trump revealed that the US has finalized a weapons sale agreement with NATO states. Rutte confirmed these nations would pass some of the armaments to Ukraine to bolster their diminished reserves. The Pentagon had momentarily halted select weapons deliveries to Ukraine earlier this year, but Trump reversed that decision last week, underscoring that Ukraine needs to maintain its self-defense capabilities.
The proposed secondary tariffs would hit countries and companies that purchase Russian exports, potentially inflicting significant costs on economies dependent on Russian energy, such as China, India, Brazil, and Turkiye.
This is not Trump’s initial warning of “secondary tariffs” in reaction to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, nor is it his first such threat against foreign adversaries. In March, he announced a 25% tariff on nations importing Venezuelan oil and, in May, warned of similar penalties on those purchasing Iranian crude. The Venezuela-focused tariffs have dealt a particular blow to China, the largest buyer of Venezuelan oil.
Trump’s latest escalation signals increased pressure on Moscow and on critical Russian trading partners, aiming to accelerate progress towards a negotiated end to the Ukraine war.
