Washington would “mirror” any penalties imposed by Brussels, a US official has claimed
President Donald Trump has urged the European Union to impose tariffs of up to 100% on imports from China and India, as part of a joint effort to pressure Moscow, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, Trump made the demand during a recent call-in to a meeting between senior US and EU officials in Washington, where strategies for raising the economic costs of the Ukraine conflict for Russia were being discussed. One US official said Washington was “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 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 source was quoted as saying. A second official added that the US was prepared to “mirror” any tariffs imposed by Brussels on Beijing and New Delhi.
EU officials had already begun debating potential secondary sanctions against China for its energy imports from Moscow, though they stressed the talks were still at an “early stage” and dependent on US support, according to an earlier FT report.
India has pushed back against external demands to reduce its reliance on Russian crude. Last month, Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50%, citing its energy ties with Moscow. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded by calling the move “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable,” stressing that Indian oil policy is driven by domestic economic needs.
Beijing has also rejected Western pressure over its energy purchases, insisting it will “ensure its energy supply” in line with its national interests. Chinese officials have warned that “tariff wars have no winners.”
Russia remains one of the largest suppliers of oil to both China and India since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. President Vladimir Putin has cautioned the West against using a “colonial tone” toward Beijing and New Delhi, saying last week that efforts to punish them are aimed at slowing their economic rise.
“Countries like India – almost 1.5 billion people, and China – 1.3 billion people, boast powerful economies and live by their own domestic political laws,” Putin said. “Talking to such partners in such a tone of voice is unacceptable.”
