Continue to wear them: Trump requests that the EU impose 100% tariffs on China and India for purchasing Russian oil

According to Reuters on Tuesday, which cited a us official and an eu diplomat, Donald trump has called for the European Union to slap tariffs of up to 100% on China and India as part of a plan to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While an EU group was in Washington for sanctions coordination discussions, the request was communicated to EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan and other EU officials via conference call.

In an indication of Washington’s desire for a coordinated strategy, one US official stated, “We’re ready to go, ready to go right now, but we’re only going to do this if our European partners step up with us.”

“The obvious approach here is, let’s all put on dramatic tariffs and keep the tariffs on until the Chinese agree to stop buying the oil,” Trump said simply as he told negotiators about his idea. There aren’t many other possible destinations for oil.

Washington said it would implement equivalent taxes if Brussels did the same, according to an EU diplomat. According to the diplomat, “they are essentially saying: We’ll do this but you need to do it with us.”

The EU’s current strategy, which has centered on sanctions to isolate Russia rather than tariffs, would be significantly altered by such a move. According to the Financial Times, European capitals were also considering secondary sanctions against nations like China and India, although there are still worries because of the EU’s close commercial relations with both.

Among the biggest consumers of Russian oil, which has been a vital lifeline for Moscow since its escalated invasion of Ukraine in 2022, are China and India. Trump increased charges on India by 25 percentage points earlier this year and has threatened punitive tariffs against both countries for their purchases on numerous occasions.

However, he has refrained from putting the most severe measures he has proposed into effect. He has occasionally also criticized Europe for not completely severing its links with Russia, which last year continued to provide about 19% of the EU’s gas imports despite the bloc’s pledge to reduce its reliance on Moscow for energy.

Trump seemed to adopt a more accommodative stance toward New Delhi later on Tuesday, implying that the US could actually increase trade with India. He said in a social media post that he was looking forward to talking with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that the two nations were trying to remove trade barriers.