US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged European Union to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on Chinese and Indian goods as part of a strategy to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a US official and an EU diplomat, quoted by Reuters. “The source of the money for the Russian war machine is oil purchases by China and India. If you do not get at the source of the money, there’s no way to stop the war machine,” the official said as quoted.
Trump made the request during a conference call with EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan and other European officials. The EU delegation is in Washington this week to discuss sanctions coordination. According to the EU diplomat, the US indicated it was prepared to impose similar tariffs if the bloc agreed to the request. “They are basically saying: We’ll do this but you need to do it with us,” the diplomat said.Also Read | ‘Close friends, natural partners’: PM Modi responds to Donald Trump; both express confidence on India-US trade talksThe discussions in Washington reportedly were led by EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan, with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and officials from the state department and the US trade representative also taking part. Ukraine’s prime minister joined the session, while Trump made his intervention remotely, said the official. A separate official pointed to a bill with 85 Senate co-sponsors that would allow secondary tariffs on countries trading with Russia, but questioned whether the European parliament has the political will to follow through, wrote AFP.‘Looking forward to speak with my good friend Modi’: TrumpThe report comes as Trump on Tuesday said he looked forward to speaking with Prime Minister Narendra Modi “in the coming weeks” Calling PM Modi a “very good friend,” Trump said talks are continuing to resolve trade barriers between the two countries. “I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our great countries,” he wrote on Truth Social.PM Modi responded to the remarks echoing similar sentiments on India-US ties.Also read: Trump says India-US trade talks to continue; confident of successful outcome The remarks follow Trump’s recent comments at the White House, where he described ties with India as “very special” but said he disagreed with some of New Delhi’s policies. PM Modi responded warmly, saying he “deeply appreciates and fully reciprocates” Trump’s sentiments.
