AsianFin -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday was reported to press the European Union to hit two major Russian oil buyers--China and India with hefty tariffs.
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Trump made the demand for up to 100% tariffs on China and India over their purchases of Russian oil during a meeting between U.S. and EU officials on Tuesday discussing options to double down economic pressure on Russia, the Financial Times reported. A BBC source echoed the reported demand as part of his efforts to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. government is considering expanding tariffs on countries buying Russian oil including India, but only if the EU takes similar steps, news agency AFP cited a U.S. official on Tuesday.
Trump was reported to suggest tariffs of between 50% and 100% on buyers during talks between U.S. and EU officials since Washington believes “the source of the money for the Russian war machine is oil purchased by China and India.” Trump is “ready to go” but wants the EU to act alongside the U.S., according to the official.
The reported discussioins in Washington were led by EU sanctions envoy David O’ Sullivan, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and officials from the Department of State and the trade representative also joined in.
Trump last month hit India with new tariffs over Russian oil purchases. The president on August 6 signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, citing “the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil.”
India became the first country to be punished by the U.S. over its buying Russian oil.The new tariffs entered into effect on August 27, 21 days after announcement of the order. India since late August faced a total of 50% extra U.S. tariffs.
India has called the tariffs unfair and says it will not scale back purchases, insisting it will seek the "best deal" on oil to safeguard the interests of its 1.4 billion people.
Trump’s chief trade advisor Peter Navarro last month repeatedly urged India to stop its purchases of sanctioned Russian oil. In an op-ed published on the Financial Times on August 18, Navarro attacked India for its oil imports from Russia as opportunistic, and called for the country to stop its buying that was funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
“In effect, India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” Navarro said in the article.Navarro claimed that India’s oil trade with Russia was at the cost of the U.S. “American consumers buy Indian goods,” he said. “India uses those dollars to buy discounted Russian crude.”
Navarro on August 27, hours after 50% U.S. tairffs on India kicked off, ramped up pressure on India. He described Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine as Indian Prime Minister Narendra "Modi's war". By purchasing Russian oil “at a discount,” Navarro said in a Bloomberg interview, “Russia uses the money it gets to fund its war machine kill more Ukrainians.”
When asked if he actually meant "Putin's war" instead, Mr Navarro said: "I mean Modi's war, because the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi."
