Japan has rejected a US call to raise tariffs against China and India over purchases of Russian oil
Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato did not support a US proposal to raise tariffs on imports from China and India because of their purchases of Russian oil. This is reports Bloomberg.
“Japan has undertaken within the framework of the World Trade Organization not to apply tariffs in excess of established limits and to treat all member countries fairly, as long as others comply with their obligations under WTO agreements. It would be difficult for us to raise tariffs to, say, 50% just on the grounds that a certain country imports oil from Russia”, – Kato stated.
His comment came after an online meeting of the G7 countries on September 12, where new sanctions against Russia were discussed. During the meeting, the US urged G7 allies to consider imposing tariffs of up to 100% on China and India because they continue to buy Russian oil.
According to the Ministry of Trade of Japan, in June, about 1% of the country’s oil imports came from Russia. At the same time, Tokyo considers the Russian Sakhalin-2 project, located north of Japan, to be a key source of LNG supplies. These deliveries are not subject to Western sanctions.
“We are analyzing what kind of pressure can be most effective and we are closely coordinating our actions with our G7 partners”, – noted Kato, referring to potential measures capable of stopping Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the G7 countries are working on a new package of sanctions and plan to finalize the document within two weeks.
