If no peace deal is reached within 50 days, President Trump announces 100% tariffs on countries doing business with Russia
Washington, July 15, 2025 – President Donald Trump announced Monday that if a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine is not reached within the next 50 days, the United States will impose 100% tariffs on countries that continue doing business with Russia. This move is part of his administration’s planned “secondary sanctions” and reflects Trump's growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“If we don't have a deal within 50 days, we’re going to impose secondary tariffs. It's very simple,” Trump said while sitting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. “And they’ll be at 100%.”
“We are very unhappy with Russia. I, personally, am very unhappy,” Trump added.
Trump also revealed that the United States has reached a deal to sell weapons to NATO member states, who will in turn send weapons to Ukraine to replenish their own depleted stockpiles. Earlier this month, the Pentagon had paused some weapons shipments to Ukraine, but Trump reversed that decision last week, stating that Ukraine must be able to defend itself.
“We made a deal today where we’re going to be sending them weapons and they’re going to be paying for them,” Trump told reporters. “The United States won’t be paying anything. We’ll manufacture it, and they will pay for it.”
Rutte said, “This is a very big decision. President Trump called me last week and said he wants Ukraine to be capable of defending itself, but that European countries should pay the costs — which is totally logical.”
Trump expressed frustration over his multiple phone calls with Putin, saying, “Every time I hang up the phone, I think, ‘Well, that was a good conversation.’ And then missiles hit Kyiv or another city. I think, ‘That’s strange.’ After it happens three or four times, you realize that talk alone doesn’t work.”
About Putin, Trump said, “I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy.” He added that Putin has fooled other presidents, “but he didn’t fool me.”
“In the end, it’s not just talk — it has to be action, it has to be results,” Trump emphasized.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday that he spoke with President Trump and thanked him and the U.S. for their willingness to support Ukraine.
“We discussed the necessary steps and solutions to better protect people from Russian attacks and to strengthen our defenses,” Zelenskyy wrote. “We are ready to work as productively as possible to achieve peace.”
Meanwhile, some members of Congress are calling for even tougher secondary sanctions on Russia. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal are backing legislation that would give the president the authority to impose up to 500% tariffs on countries doing business with Russia.
Speaking on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Graham said such sanctions would give President Trump a “powerful hammer” to end the war in Ukraine.
In a joint statement Monday, Graham and Blumenthal said, “The president’s announcement is a real executive hammer that can push parties to the negotiating table.”
“The goal is not more tariffs and sanctions — the goal is to compel Putin to come to the peace table,” they said.
The senators also said they are continuing their legislative work to allow the U.S. to impose up to 500% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas.
Graham added on “Face the Nation,” “We’ve given Ukraine a lot — money, military aid.” But he noted, “Now America can start selling massive amounts of weapons to our European allies, which would benefit Ukraine.”
Republican Congressman French Hill, who spearheaded legislation during the Biden administration giving the president the authority to seize foreign assets, said Sunday on “Face the Nation,” “It’s time for the president to convert those seized assets into a trust fund for the benefit of Ukraine.”
No American president has ever seized the sovereign central bank assets of a country that the U.S. is not officially at war with. Former U.S. officials told CBS News that the Biden administration declined to exercise that authority due to European concerns about the potential unintended consequences for their banking systems and economies.
