'EU seeks more trade with India, not new tariffs': Finland FM in major snub to Trump

Europe is looking to reduce tariffs on India and expand bilateral trade, Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen has said, ruling out secondary tariffs on New Delhi for purchasing Russian energy despite Washington’s repeated requests.

“Now, what we look forward to doing with India is increasing our trade. And that would mean that rather than setting up new tariffs, we would rather like to reduce them and see the FTA negotiations proceed in good faith and as soon as possible,” Valtonen said in an interview with Hindustan Times on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. 

“But having said this, of course, we hope that also from the geostrategic perspective, India would align itself a little bit also closer to the foreign policy that the European Union is actively engaged in,” she added. 

The Financial Times earlier this month reported that US President Donald Trump asked the European Union to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on India and China as part of a coordinated push to pressure Russia. The report said Trump made the request during a call with senior US and EU officials in Washington who were discussing ways to increase the economic cost of the Ukraine war for Moscow.

Responding to questions on Trump’s demand, Valtonen said Europe was sticking to its own sanctions plan. “Europe has a very effective sanctions policy in place, and our tool to have Russia end its illegal war is first and foremost, those sanctions. We are also looking at tariffs, but those tariffs would rather be imposed directly on Russia, since, unlike the United States, Europe does still import some goods and services from Russia,” she said.

“Quite a lot of that is, of course, sanctioned, and we have been able to reduce, for instance, our crude oil import from Russia by 90%. More needs to be done, but that’s our primary way of doing things,” she added.

Asked if Europe was considering secondary tariffs on India and China, Valtonen said, “Well, that’s the European position. And of course we are curious to investigate new ideas, but currently we haven’t seen a need for that, because we have observed that the existing policy of sanctions is quite rigid enough, especially combined with the oil price cap.”

She also welcomed India’s expanded role in seeking to end the Ukraine conflict, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s phone call with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb.

The United States has already imposed a 50 per cent tariff on India, with 25 per cent specifically for its purchases of Russian oil, accusing New Delhi of indirectly funding Russia’s war in Ukraine.