TU.S. President Donald Trump and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen shake fingers as they announce a US-EU commerce deal after a gathering at Trump Turnberry golf membership on July 27, 2025 in Turnberry, Scotland.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Reports that U.S. President Donald Trump requested the European Union to slap tariffs of up to 100% on China and India for his or her Russian oil purchases has raised eyebrows on either side of the Atlantic, with Europe seen as unlikely to acquiesce to the White House’s request.
Trump made the proposal — first reported by the Financial Times and confirmed to CNBC by two sources familiar with the matter — when he was known as into a gathering with senior U.S. and EU officers in Washington on Tuesday. The U.S. was additionally ready to “mirror” any tariffs imposed by Europe on the 2 international locations, the FT’s report added. The White House has but to reply to CNBC’s request for feedback.
Asked to remark on Trump’s bid, a European Commission spokesperson instructed CNBC Wednesday it couldn’t disclose assembly particulars due to confidentiality, noting, “The EU has engaged with all relevant global partners, including India and China, in the context of its sanctions enforcement efforts. This engagement will continue.”
The fee pointed to its nineteenth measures package deal its getting ready in opposition to Moscow, saying it had “added new sanctions tools which allow us to target circumvention through third countries” and that the U.S. was a “crucially important partner” in Brussels’ efforts to pile strain on Russia’s warfare economic system.
Timing
Asking the EU to impose tariffs on key Russian vitality shoppers India and China was seen as one other method to punish their commerce with Moscow and put strain on Russia to finish the warfare in Ukraine.
Yet European officers seem cautious of alienating China and India, and the timing of Trump’s request has raised eyebrows as a result of it Washington is negotiating a trade deal with New Delhi.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The U.S. has already imposed a 50% tariff on India, which features a 25% punitive responsibility it for its Russian oil purchases. India says the tariffs are “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,” whereas calling out the U.S. and the EU’s commerce with Russia.
Ian Bremmer, founding father of Eurasia Group, instructed CNBC Wednesday that the White House’s newest demand on the EU was “hard to square with Trump’s efforts to get to a trade deal with India and China, which he prioritizes over getting a ceasefire in Ukraine (let alone things like Transatlantic collective security and deterrence),” Bremmer stated in emailed feedback to CNBC.
“It looks more like an attempt to shift responsibility for a stronger response to Europe, creating political cover for American inaction on the sanctions front while avoiding a direct hit to U.S.-China relations.”
‘Europe ought to say no’
The EU is unlikely to acquiesce, analysts say. Not solely would the bloc be cautious of adopting Trump’s contentious tariffs technique and burning its personal bridges with India and China — regardless of an financial rivalry with the Asian superpowers — however the EU has its personal difficult buying and selling relationship with Russia.
“Everyone knows if the Europeans haven’t been able to wean themselves off Russian energy themselves more than 3.5 years into the war, they sure as hell aren’t going to cut themselves off from their top goods import supplier,” Eurasia Group’s Bremmer said.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes fingers with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier than a joint information convention following their assembly at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025.
Gavriil Grigorov | Via Reuters
Other analysts famous that Europe, in contrast to Trump, has an aversion to imposing tariffs as a part of a commerce playbook, arguing that the bloc should not be drawn into his commerce wars.
“No one in Europe believes tariffs are an effective trade policy tool … Europe would prefer diplomacy to address issues, rather than outright trade war,” Bill Blain, market strategist and founding father of London-based Wind Shift Capital, stated in his Morning Porridge newsletter on Wednesday.
“Europe’s response should be ‘no.’ Trump kicked the hornets nest – let him deal with the consequences. But let’s see what happens,” Blain concluded.
Russia connection
The EU has an advanced buying and selling relationship with Russia. This is probably going to forestall the bloc from punishing different nations for doing enterprise with Moscow, when the EU does so too — albeit at a far decrease stage than earlier than the Ukraine warfare started in 2022.
The EU’s bilateral commerce with its neighbor stood at 67.5 billion euros ($78.1 billion) in 2024, in accordance to European Commission data, with the EU’s imports have been price 35.9 billion euros and dominated by gasoline and mining merchandise. EU exports to Russia totaled 31.5 billion euros in 2024.
The EU has struggled to wean itself off Russian fuel and LNG (liquefied pure fuel) imports utterly. Russia’s share of EU imports of pipeline fuel dropped from over 40% in 2021 to about 11.6% in 2024, whereas Moscow accounted for lower than 19% of whole EU pipeline fuel and LNG imports in 2024, the commission’s data notes.
The U.S. has inspired its European allies to change to U.S. LNG.
Trump stated the EU had pledged, as a part of its framework commerce cope with the U.S. — which noticed 15% tariffs imposed on the bloc’s exports to the States — to purchase U.S. LNG, oil and nuclear energy products with an expected offtake valued at $750 billion over the subsequent three years.
U.S. Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum instructed CNBC Wednesday that the Trump administration is trying to drive up the U.S.’ market share of the vitality sector in Europe.
“[Exporting] LNG would be one of the easiest things, [you can] put it on a ship, send it over here. Displace Russian gas, drive their market share to zero in Europe and drive U.S. market share up. That’s great for America, great for our allies, and we stop funding Russia’s side of the war,” he instructed CNBC at Gastech 2025.