Trump wants EU to slap China, India with 100% tariffs to tighten pressure on Putin

The request was conveyed in a private conversation with EU officials on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the talks in both Washington and Brussels, who spoke to Reuters.

China and India, two of Russia’s biggest energy partners, would be directly caught in the squeeze if the EU agrees to Trump’s request.

One EU diplomat said Trump signalled he was prepared to impose similarly sweeping tariffs himself if the bloc agreed to act.

The appeal comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin shows little inclination to scale back his war in Ukraine. Last week, he accused EU states of forming a “party of war” and warned that Moscow would continue to resort to military means if all else fails.

“I think there’s a certain light at the end of the tunnel,” Putin said during a nearly hourlong news conference in Beijing. “If not, then we’ll have to solve all the tasks before us by military means.”

For his part, Trump is appearing to turn increasingly critical of Putin again after mellowing out during their August meeting in Alaska. In recent months, he has escalated economic pressure on Russia’s oil trade partners, including raising tariffs on Indian goods to 50%.

Speaking to Global South World before news of the EU request emerged, Dr. Ila Joshi, an international relations scholar studying China and India, called Trump's tariff strategy misguided.

“Trump can do anything, but I hope he doesn’t,” Joshi said when asked if Washington might raise duties on India after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to be drawing closer to Xi Jinping and Putin.

“With the personality he has, he’s so erratic, he can do anything. But as for an intelligent foreign policy… that’s not an intelligent thing to do. Not at all.”