US President Donald Trump has called on the EU to increase tariffs on China and India by 100% to increase pressure on Russia to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported, citing three unnamed sources.
According to them, Trump made the proposal while remotely joining a meeting between senior US and EU officials who have gathered in Washington to discuss joint measures to put pressure on Moscow.
It is assumed that if the EU is ready to take such action, the United States could strengthen its sanctions against Russia. “We are ready to act immediately, but we will only do so if other European partners strengthen measures together with us“, a source in the US administration told the newspaper. Another US official told the publication that the US is ready to impose the same high tariffs on China and India as the EU if Brussels agrees to such a step.
The Financial Times previously reported that the EU is considering imposing sanctions on China and third countries for buying Russian oil and gas. The article said that EU officials and diplomats began talks on September 7 to include such restrictions in a new sanctions package. According to three sources, the issue of possible secondary sanctions against China was repeatedly raised during preliminary discussions.