Trump urges EU to impose harsh tariffs on China, India to pressure Russia, FT reports
U.S. President Donald Trump has called on the European Union to impose tariffs of up to 100% on China and India as part of a coordinated effort to increase pressure on Russia over its war against Ukraine, three officials familiar with the discussions told the Financial Times (FT).
Trump made the request while dialing into a high-level meeting in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 9 between senior U.S. and EU officials. The talks focused on ways to raise the economic cost for Moscow as Ukraine continues to endure Russian attacks.
"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 U.S. official said, according to FT.
A second U.S. official added that Washington would be prepared to "mirror" any EU tariffs on China and India, which could lead to a further escalation of existing U.S. trade barriers against both countries.
Frustration within the White House over stalled peace efforts and Russia’s intensified aerial assault on Ukraine helped drive the latest U.S. proposal.
"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 official said.
Trump told reporters later on Sept. 9 that he expected to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin "this week or early next week."
The proposal follows a summit last week in which Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed their ties.
Last month, the U.S. raised tariffs on Indian imports to 50% in response to India's continued purchases of Russian oil—straining relations between the two countries.
On Sept. 9, Trump posted on Truth Social that trade talks with India were ongoing and expressed optimism about the outcome.
"India, and the United States of America, are continuing negotiations to address the Trade Barriers between our two Nations. I look forward to speaking with my very good friend, Prime Minister Modi, in the upcoming weeks," he wrote.
While the U.S. has not directly targeted China over its Russian oil purchases, Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese imports in April, only to reduce them weeks later after a severe market reaction.
The Washington talks included senior U.S. Treasury officials and EU representatives led by the bloc’s sanctions chief, David O’Sullivan. EU diplomats confirmed that discussions on secondary sanctions targeting countries buying Russian oil and gas—including China and India—have been taking place. But many EU member states remain cautious due to close trade ties with both countries.
U.S. diplomats in Europe have made clear that the Trump administration will not impose sanctions on Russian oil buyers without full EU backing.
"It’s a question of, do the Europeans have the political will to bring the war to an end?" said the first U.S. official. "Any of these things will of course be costly, and for the president to do it, we need our EU partners and ideally all of our partners with us. And we’ll share the pain together."
