Trump calls on EU to impose 100% tariffs on China and India over Putin
Trump urges the EU to raise tariffs on China and India
US President Donald Trump has urged EU leaders to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India and China as part of coordinated efforts to increase pressure on Russia to end its war against Ukraine, according to the Financial Times.
Financial Times, citing three officials familiar with the matter, reports that Trump requested talks between senior US and EU officials in Washington, which focused on ways to raise the economic costs of Russia’s war.
“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,” one US official told the outlet.
A second US official stated that Washington is prepared to mirror any tariffs on China and India that the EU implements, potentially leading to further increases in US duties on imports from both countries.
Trump’s proposal comes amid White House frustration over difficulties in reaching a peace agreement and increasingly aggressive Russian air strikes on Ukraine.
“The president came on this morning and his view is that 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. There really aren’t many other places that oil can go,” one official said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has called on the US and EU to impose tough sanctions on Russia’s oil giants. According to Svyrydenko, sanctions have already had a significant impact on the Russian economy, which has lost more than $160 billion.
Meanwhile, the European Union is preparing its 19th sanctions package against Russia. Media reports indicate that the European Commission will announce the new restrictions by Friday, September 12.
