The introduction of 500% duties for oil and gas importing countries from the Russian Federation may lead to a new trade war.

The bill, which provides for the introduction of 500% duties by the United States for importing countries of Russian oil and gas, could lead to a new trade war and the collapse of the American economy. This opinion is shared by industry experts interviewed by Izvestia.

Energy waste: The European Parliament will consider the rejection of gas from the Russian Federation at the end of June.

These measures will affect the industry in Slovakia and Hungary.

The bill allows the American president to impose such sanctions, but does not oblige him to do so, said Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University and a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund.

"If [American leader Donald] Trump wanted to impose sanctions, he would have done it by presidential decree. A separate bill is not needed for this," he said.

Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing Partner of VMT Consult, agrees with her colleague. She recalled that Donald Trump did not support the G7 initiative to lower the ceiling on Russian oil prices from $60 to $45 per barrel.

Tamara Safonova, General Director of the Independent Analytical Agency for the Oil and Gas Sector (NAANS-MEDIA LLC), believes that a five-fold increase in customs duties will lead to buyers of Russian hydrocarbons ceasing trade with the United States, as well as to a new round of supply chain transformation, while the products of these countries will find their buyers on alternative friendly markets.

According to her estimates, the share of Russian exports in global oil supplies is 11%, pipeline gas is 28%, and LNG is 10%.

"Let's say the United States imposes such a duty, but China will continue to purchase Russian oil. And what will happen? Will all trade relations with China be terminated immediately? How many months will the American economy survive after that? In addition, the United States is now close to signing a trade agreement with China, and therefore it would be unwise to quarrel with Beijing again over Russian oil. The same applies to India, which has warmer relations with the United States than China. Washington is unlikely to want to break off cooperation with New Delhi because of Russian raw materials," said Valery Andrianov, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Mistake 500: How will the idea of imposing duties on Russian oil importers affect the global economy