Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump has once again tightened his stand against Russia. This time his target is directly on those countries which are strengthening its economy by purchasing oil from Russia, in which India and China are at the forefront. Trump has clearly stated to the European Union (EU) officials that if a real pressure is to be put on Putin, then a tariff of up to 100% should be imposed on countries like India and China. The aim of this whole exercise is to weaken Russia’s earnings from oil business. Trump believes that as long as India and China continue to buy Russian crude oil, it is difficult to give Russia a financial shock in the Ukraine war.
Talk to EU officials on phone
According to International news agency Reuters, Trump made the statement during a conference call with EU’s Sanctuary David Osulivan and other senior officials. It was also indicated by the US administration that if the European Union increases tariffs on India and China, Washington will also stand with him in this strategy. A senior EU diplomat said, he (America) is basically saying that if you do it, we will also support.
Trump has threatened to increase tariffs before
Trump has also shown a tough stand on India and China earlier. At his behest, import duty on Indian products was recently increased. Especially due to continuing oil purchases from Russia, an additional 25% tariff was imposed on some products in India, due to which the total fee has reached 50%. Although he has not taken a big step like 100% tariff so far, but this time his accent and strategy is clearly seen.
On one side there is talk of friendship, tariff on the other hand
Interestingly, while Trump is talking about drastic economic steps on India, on the other hand he also wrote on social media recently that efforts are being made to improve business relations between America and India. He has also expressed his desire to talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon. It is clear that Trump does not want to completely spoil the relationship with India, but wants to create pressure to distance away from Russia.
Questions on European Union too
Trump has also taken a dig at the European Union on this issue. He says that EU has not completely stopped energy imports from Russia. According to the data, gas imports from Russia in EU last year were around 19%. However, EU claims that it is working towards ending this dependence soon.
Now due to this pressure of Trump, EU may also have to change its strategy. Till now EU has been pressurizing Russia mainly through economic sanctions, but after this new demand of Trump, India can also consider a tariff-based strategy.