By Rounak Bagchi
Copyright timesnownews
US President Donald Trump has urged the European Union to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on imports from India and China as part of a joint effort to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine, according to a report by The Financial Times. The President made the request after dialing into a meeting in Washington between senior American and European officials who were discussing ways to raise the economic cost of the war for Russia, according to three officials familiar with the matter quoted in the report. “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. Another official added that Washington was prepared to “mirror” any tariffs imposed by the Europeans on Chinese and Indian goods, potentially leading to a broader escalation in trade measures against both countries. Trump’s proposal comes as the White House has grown frustrated with the slow progress of peace efforts and Russia’s increasingly aggressive aerial bombardments in Ukraine. Also Read: Are India-US Trade Talks Still On? Here’s What Donald Trump Said “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,” the first US official said. “There really aren’t many other places that oil can go.” On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for the United States and Europe to intensify economic pressure on Moscow, saying the strategy could force President Vladimir Putin to enter peace talks. Speaking to NBC, Bessent signaled that Washington was open to working with European partners to impose additional sanctions on countries that continue to purchase Russian oil, including India. “We are in a race now between how long can the Ukrainian military hold up, versus how long can the Russian economy hold up?” he said. “And if the US and the [European Union] can come in, do more sanctions, secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil, the Russian economy will be in total collapse, and that will bring President Putin to the table.” Last week, Trump pressed European leaders to curtail purchases of Russian oil and increase economic pressure on China, arguing that such measures were critical to ending the conflict. He delivered those remarks during a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European officials participating in the “Coalition of the Willing,” a group of nations committed to supporting Kyiv’s defense and long-term security. The US has already imposed 25 per cent penalty on Indian goods over New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News and around the World.
