Trump signed an executive order to suspend the increase in tariffs on Chinese goods due to China's purchase of Russian oil.

Trump had previously threatened that if Russia did not take action to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he would impose further sanctions on Russia and secondary sanctions on countries that purchased Russian oil. China and India are the two major buyers of Russian oil.

Trump earlier threatened to impose tariffs on Russian energy buyers in an effort to force Putin to engage in peace talks with Ukraine. As India purchases oil from Moscow, the US President has announced that tariffs on Indian goods will be doubled to 50% starting from August 27. China and India are the two major buyers of Russian oil.

Bloomberg and Reuters reported that Trump said in an interview with Fox News after his meeting with Russian President Putin on Friday (August 15) : "Because of today's situation, I don't think I need to consider this issue now..." Now, I might need two or three weeks to consider this issue, but we don't have to think about it now.

If Trump fulfills his promise to intensify sanctions against Russia and impose tariffs on third parties purchasing Russian energy, China's slowing economy will be hit. The United States and China are striving to reach a trade agreement, which is expected to ease tensions between the world's two largest economies. But if Trump opts to intensify punitive measures in seeking to end the Russia-Ukraine war, China could become the biggest remaining target apart from Russia.

On August 15th, during his meeting in Alaska, Trump failed to reach a ceasefire agreement with Putin on the war in Ukraine. However, he said that the two sides had reached consensus on many issues and urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reach an agreement with the leader who launched a full-scale and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in 2022.