By Ryan Morgan
Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100% secondary tariff on Russian goods if Moscow doesn’t agree to a deal to resolve the Ukraine conflict within the next 50 days.
“I’m disappointed in [Russian President Vladimir Putin], because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn’t seem to get there,” Trump said as he hosted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House on July 14.
“So based on that, we’re going to be doing secondary tariffs. If we don’t have a deal in 50 days, it’s very simple, and they’ll be at 100% and that’s the way it is.”
Secondary tariffs target the countries that trade with a sanctioned country. In this case, a secondary tariff would target countries that continue to trade with Russia.
Trump presented his 100% tariff threat as being separate from new legislation that members of Congress are preparing, which would allow for secondary tariffs of as much as 500% against Russia’s trade partners.
“We can do secondary tariffs without the Senate, without the House, but what they’re crafting also could be very good,” Trump said.
While Trump expressed frustrations with Russia’s handling of the peace process, the Kremlin blamed the Ukrainian government for the lack of progress.
“We still await proposals concerning the timelines. The Russian side is willing to continue and hold a third round [of talks],” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency.
Rutte arrived at the White House on Monday morning as part of a planned two-day visit to include meetings with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and some members of Congress.
In addition to the new tariff threat against Russia, Trump indicated he has prepared a new framework for European allies to reimburse the United States for the cost of continuing to supply Ukraine with military support.
“We made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons and they’re going to be paying for them,” Trump said. “The United States will not be having any payment made. We’re not buying it, but we will manufacture it, and they’re going to be paying for it.”
Rutte said Trump’s desire to continue supplying Ukraine with military equipment, albeit with Europe covering the costs, is “totally logical.”
The NATO secretary-general said several alliance members — notably Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands — vare also preparing weapons packages for Ukraine. He said this will allow the U.S. military to better stockpile the weapons it needs for its direct needs, while ensuring Ukraine can also receive “massive numbers of military equipment.”
