Now, Trump asks EU to slap 100% tariff on India, China to pressure Putin

U.S. President Donald Trump has asked European Union officials to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100 per cent in a bid to choke off Russia's oil revenues and force President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Trump dialled into a meeting between senior U.S. and EU officials in Washington and urged a joint tariff strategy against Beijing and New Delhi, the report said, citing three officials. China and India are major buyers of Russian oil.

"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 U.S. official told the FT. Another added that Washington would be prepared to "mirror" EU tariffs, escalating U.S. levies further if Brussels acted.

"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. There really aren’t many other places that oil can go," the first U.S. official was quoted as saying.

This comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin, and Prime Minister Modi met at the SCO Summit over a week ago in Tianjin. White House is frustrated at the lack of progress on brokering peace in Ukraine and Russia's intensifying aerial strikes. 

The United States last month doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50 per cent over its Russian oil purchases, raising tensions with New Delhi. On Tuesday evening, Trump sought to soften the tone, writing on Truth Social that trade negotiations with India would move forward.

"India, and the United States of America, are continuing negotiations to address the Trade Barriers between our two Nations. I look forward to speaking with my very good friend, Prime Minister Modi, in the upcoming weeks," he posted.

EU officials, led by sanctions chief David O'Sullivan, attended the Washington meeting alongside senior U.S. Treasury officials, according to FT. European capitals have debated secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian oil and gas, but many remain cautious given their own deep trade ties with China and India. Some EU nations still import Russian energy products directly.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already called U.S. tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil "the right idea." Trump ally and trade adviser Peter Navarro has repeatedly accused India of profiteering from cheap Russian crude by refining and reselling products to the West-charges New Delhi has rejected.