09:51 BST
On Sunday, Trump threatened “secondary tariffs” on Russia if it doesn’t agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine. Let’s unpack that a little.
What did Trump say?
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault , which it might not be… I am going to put secondary tariffs… on all oil coming out of Russia,” the US president told NBC News.
“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump added. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25 to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
He also described it as a “25% tariff on oil and other products sold in the United States, secondary tariffs”.
What is a secondary tariff?
When a government imposes trade tariffs it means it is taxing the importer of goods. It’s effectively an entrance fee for products, usually set at a percentage of their value.
This is not the first time Trump has talked about using “secondary tariffs”. He appears to mean a tariff placed on a country because it does business with another country – in this case Russia.
So Trump appears to be threatening to impose a 25% to 50% tariff on products brought into the US from countries that purchase Russian oil. The biggest buyers of Russian oil are China and India.
What change would this make?
In March 2022, the US said it was banning the import of almost all Russian energy products. Other Western countries have issued similar sanctions.
And the US has a wider – and highly complex – sanctions regime against Russia. Its intention, in part, is to make it harder for Russia to buy and sell products, and reduce how much money it can make.
The secondary tariffs Trump is suggesting would make it harder for Russia to sell oil – as purchasers would be mindful of damaging their trade with the US.