On Tuesday, US President Trump asked the European Union to impose Tariffs up to 100 per cent on India and China to pressure Russian President Putin, according to a U.S. official and an EU diplomat.
Undoubtedly, China and India are major buyers of Russian oil, a key lifeline for Moscow since its expanded invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Notably, Trump has imposed punitive tariffs against both nations over earlier purchases, and also imposed duties on India at 25 per cent this year.
He requested via Conference call with EU sanctions envoy David O’ Sullivan and several other EU officials. At present, the EU delegation is in Washington to discuss the sanctions coordination.
What the EU diplomat stated further about Trump’s 100% Tariff request?
Furthermore, the EU diplomat stated that the US had indicated it was willing to impose similar tariffs if the European Union paid attention to the US request. They have said: “We’ll do this, but you need to do it with us,” the diplomat said. The U.S. request, if heeded, would result in a change of strategy for the EU, which has preferred to isolate Russia with sanctions rather than tariffs. While Trump did hike tariffs on India over the summer by 25 percentage points in part due to its economic relationship with the Kremlin, Trump has yet to make the final decision on the more punishing options he has raised. However, on Tuesday, Trump took to Truth Social and stated that his administration is continuing negotiations to discuss trade deals with India, and he would talk to PM Modi after the imposition of the US tariffs. Whereas PM Modi responded to this Post on X, calling India-US close friends and natural partners.