President Donald Trump is proposing a significant escalation of the sanctions regime against Russia, extending the economic battleground to its key global partners, India and China. The plan calls for the US and EU to jointly impose tariffs of up to 100% on the two nations, a move designed to make their continued support for Vladimir Putin’s war effort economically untenable.
This shift from direct to secondary sanctions was unveiled during a meeting with EU officials focused on finding new ways to pressure Moscow. The Trump administration has signaled it is ready to implement this policy immediately but has made it entirely dependent on the EU’s willingness to join the effort. This conditional approach is a tactic to build a broad, powerful coalition.
The strategy is a direct response to the deepening economic and political ties between Russia, China, and India, which have blunted the impact of existing sanctions. The US has already taken a step in this direction, hitting India with 50% tariffs for its Russian oil trade. The new proposal aims to vastly increase the scope and severity of this pressure.
The entire policy, however, rests on a precarious legal footing. The US Supreme Court is poised to deliver a landmark ruling on the president’s authority to impose tariffs. A loss in court would not only halt this new initiative but would also force the US Treasury to refund tens of billions of dollars in collected duties.