Washington: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has explained why America has spared China -- Russia's biggest oil buyer -- from any secondary sanctions, even as 50 per cent tariffs were imposed on India, including a 25 per cent duty for New Delhi's trade with Moscow. According to Rubio, the majority of Russian oil that Beijing is purchasing is being refined and then sold in the global marketplace. He noted that any additional sanctions on China could drive up global energy prices.
"Well, if you look at the oil that's going to China and being refined, a lot of that is then being sold back into Europe. Europe's also buying natural gas still. Now, there are countries trying to wean themselves off it, but there's more Europe can do with regard to their own sanctions," Rubio said in an interview with Fox Business on Sunday.
He cautioned that sanctioning Chinese refiners would have disruptive consequences for the global oil prices and said, "If you put secondary sanctions on a country - let's say you were to go after the oil sales of Russian oil to China - well, China just refines that oil. That oil is then sold into the global marketplace, and anyone who's buying that oil would be paying more for it or, if it doesn't exist, would have to find an alternative source for it."
Marco Rubio said the European nations that buy Russian oil from China have already expressed unease over any punitive measures against Beijing.
"We have heard, when you talk about the Senate bill that was being proposed - where there was a hundred per cent tariff on China and India - we did hear from a number of European countries - not in press releases, but we heard from them - some concern about what that could mean," he stated.
To a follow-up question on whether sanctions are being contemplated against Europe for continuing to buy oil and gas from Russia, Rubio said, "Well, I don't know about (sanctions) on Europe directly, obviously, but certainly there are implications to secondary sanctions.
He added that he doesn't want to get into a tit-for-tat with the Europeans on this matter. "I think they can play a very constructive role here in helping us get to that point," he said.
Source: India Today