Yellen targets Russian oil in EU talks with price cap and tariff proposals

Yellen targets Russian oil in EU talks with price cap and tariff proposals

US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen is stepping up talks with EU and G7 allies on a potential price cap or tariff on Russian oil, as Brussels struggles to reach a consensus among its member states on a full import ban.

Yellen raised the Biden administration’s ideas during a visit to the European bloc’s leaders this week and was expected to present them at a gathering of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors in Germany that starts on Wednesday.

“We discussed a wide range of options. We’re not trying to tell them what’s in their best interest, but [ . . . ] we discussed some of the things that are under consideration,” Yellen told reporters who were travelling with her in Belgium on Tuesday.

A US Treasury official said Washington was proposing a price “mechanism” — such as a tariff or price cap — that would be applied to Russian oil and serve as a bridge to the moment the EU might impose a full embargo.

“They are talking about the next year as a timeframe [for an embargo], and in the meantime it might be possible to combine a phaseout with a price mechanism,” Yellen said.

The US has already imposed its own ban on all imports