Yasin Gungor
29 July 2025•Update: 29 July 2025
ISTANBUL
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday the US will not compete with China on sovereignty regarding Russian oil purchases, acknowledging Beijing takes it "very seriously."
"The Chinese take their sovereignty very seriously. We don't want to compete on their sovereignty, so they'd like to pay 100% tariff," Bessent told reporters following two days of trade talks in Stockholm with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Bessent's remarks came amid US President Donald Trump's threats to impose 100% secondary tariffs on countries maintaining trade with Russia without a resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
"We've heard from several of our European counterparts, NATO allies ... that they will be following on that," he said, adding that anyone who buys "sanctioned Russian oil should be ready for this."
Broader trade concerns addressed
During the Stockholm talks that built on previous Geneva and London meetings, Bessent said the two sides discussed multiple concerns beyond what they did in previous meetings.
He said Americans expressed worries about Chinese oil capacity globally and Beijing's purchases of Iranian oil.
The US also voiced concerns about China selling Russia dual-use technologies, though Bessent described the meeting tone as "very constructive."
Conflicting accounts on tariff pause extension
China and the US agreed Tuesday to extend the pause on tariffs and other trade measures, Chinese trade tsar Li Chenggang said after the talks.
But US officials gave more cautious responses. "We're gonna head back to Washington, DC to talk to the president about whether that's something that he wants to do," said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Bessent clarified the US’ position. "The Chinese deputy minister did say that we had agreed on a pause. We have ... nothing ... agreed until we speak with President Trump," he said. He indicated discussions typically involve 90-day periods.
The talks followed a tariff war between the world's top economies, which roiled markets before mutual rollbacks. The US had set an Aug. 12 deadline for China to reach a trade deal.
