Donald Trump has asked the EU to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on India and China as part of a joint effort to increase pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine, according to three officials familiar with the matter, APA reports, citing Financial Times.
The president made the extraordinary demand after dialling into a meeting on Tuesday between senior US and EU officials gathered in Washington to discuss ways to heighten the economic cost of the war for Moscow.
“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 said.
A second US official said Washington was prepared to “mirror” any tariffs on China and India imposed by the EU, potentially leading to a further increase in US levies on imports from both countries.
Trump’s proposal comes amid frustration within the White House at the difficulty of brokering a peace deal and Russia’s increasingly aerial attacks 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,” the first US official said.
Trump later on Tuesday told reporters he expected to have a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin “this week or early next week”.
The move by Trump comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cemented their ties at a summit last week.
