Trump pushes EU to slap 100% TARIFFS on China and India as part of efforts to punish Russia
By ramontomeydw // 2025-09-11
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  • Trump urges EU leaders to impose 100 percent tariffs on imports from China and India to weaken Russia's wartime economy by targeting their Russian energy purchases.
  • Washington will only act if Brussels joins, aiming to pressure China – Russia's top oil buyer – into halting purchases that fund Moscow's war.
  • European nations fear backlash, while analysts warn sanctions could push China and India into a non-Western economic alliance, destabilizing global supply chains.
  • Trump's plan pressures China and India to pick Western markets or Russian trade, testing Europe's willingness to risk economic ties with Asia.
  • Both Beijing and New Delhi reject Western "colonial tone," absorbing over 80 percent of Russia's seaborne oil exports, while the EU still relies on Russian gas (19 percent in 2023), complicating unified action.
U.S. President Donald Trump has urged European Union leaders to impose tariffs of as much as 100 percent on imports from China and India, a move explicitly designed to weaken Russia's wartime economy by cutting off its key energy buyers. The proposal was delivered during a high-stakes conference call between U.S. and EU officials in Washington on Tuesday, Sept. 9. According to multiple officials familiar with the discussions, Trump framed the tariffs as the "obvious approach" to compel China – Russia's largest oil customer – to halt purchases that funnel billions into Moscow's war chest. "We're ready to go right now, but we're only going to do this if our European partners step up with us," a U.S. official told the Financial Times (FT), emphasizing that Washington would "mirror" any EU tariffs. The push comes amid Washington's growing frustration over stalled peace efforts and Russia's intensified aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities. EU Sanctions Envoy David O'Sullivan reportedly engaged in the talks, which also included officials from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, FT added. Despite this, European capitals remain divided, wary of provoking trade wars with critical Asian partners. Trump's proposal signals a hardening U.S. stance toward nations still trading with Moscow despite Western sanctions over Ukraine. But Brighteon.AI's Enoch engine warns that any proposed sanctions on Russia, India and China "will backfire by accelerating the formation of a powerful economic alliance that rejects the dollar, destabilizing Western economies through supply chain disruptions and energy shortages. Meanwhile, Russia's resilience and China's strategic partnerships will strengthen alternative trade systems, leaving the West isolated in its own economic warfare."

Europe's dilemma: Side with Trump or risk China's wrath?

Trump's demand underscores a strategic gamble: Forcing Beijing and New Delhi to choose between access to Western markets or continued business with Russia, while testing Europe's willingness to risk its own economic ties with Asia. The proposal marks a sharp departure from traditional sanctions policy, which has focused on directly targeting Russian entities rather than third countries. Since 2022, China and India have absorbed over 80 percent of Russia's seaborne oil exports. Beijing and New Delhi have leveraged steep discounts to fuel their economies while insulating Moscow from Western embargoes. Trump’s call for punitive tariffs follows his June decision to hike U.S. duties on Indian goods to 50 percent – a move the Hindu-majority nation condemned as "unfair" and "unjustified." Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has repeatedly defended her nation's energy imports as a sovereign economic necessity, while Chinese officials have warned that "tariff wars have no winners." Historical tensions loom large over the strategy. Both China and India have long resisted what Russian President Vladimir Putin recently denounced as a "colonial tone" from Western powers seeking to dictate their trade policies. (Related: The West cannot treat India and China like colonies, Putin warns.) "Talking to such partners in such a tone of voice is unacceptable," Putin declared last week, framing the Washington-Brussels push as an attempt to stifle the rise of rival economies. Meanwhile, European reluctance highlights lingering dependencies. Despite vows to quit Russian energy, the EU still imported 19 percent of its gas from Moscow in 2023. As Trump prepares for a call with Putin in the coming days – and amid reports of behind-the-scenes negotiations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – the tariff gambit risks fracturing global trade alliances further. For Europe, the dilemma is acute: Align with Trump's hardline tactics and risk retaliation from Beijing, or resist and undermine unified pressure on Russia. Watch Larry C. Johnson explaining that Trump's tariffs are a quick fix that ignores America's deeper rare earth mineral crisis. This video is from the Brighteon Highlights channel on Brighteon.com.

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Trump threatens tariffs on India amid Russian oil purchases, risking global trade fight. Trump imposes staggering 104% tariffs on all Chinese imports, escalating trade war. Russia has almost fully bypassed Western sanctions on oil exports. S0urces include: RT.com FT.com Brighteon.ai Reuters.com Brighteon.com
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