The Daily Populous Wednesday September 10th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by cnbc.com and submitted by donutloop

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump talks to the press on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2025. Annabelle Gordon | Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the European Union to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% over the countries' Russia oil purchases, in a move aimed at turning up the heat on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. The proposal, first reported by the Financial Times, was confirmed to CNBC's Megan Cassella by two sources familiar with the matter. Trump made the request when he was called into a meeting with senior U.S. and EU officials in Washington, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the discussion. Washington was also prepared to "mirror" any tariffs imposed by Europe on the two countries, the report said. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comments.

The U.S. has imposed a punitive 25% tariff on imports from India over New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, taking the total duties to as high as 50%. India has said the tariffs are "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable," while calling out the U.S. and the EU's trade with Russia. The EU's bilateral trade with Russia stood at 67.5 billion euros ($78.1 billion) in 2024, while its services trade in 2023 was at 17.2 billion euros, according to European Commission data. Data from the Indian embassy in Moscow showed bilateral trade between New India and Russia reached a record $68.7 billion for the year ended March 2025, nearly 5.8 times higher than the pre-pandemic trade of $10.1 billion. China, the biggest purchaser of Russian oil, has so far been spared from the "secondary" tariffs, after securing a truce with Washington to reduce the new levies on its products to 30%. Trump's proposal comes as his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month has yielded little progress toward securing a ceasefire in Ukraine. After the meeting, Putin told reporters in a joint press conference with Trump that the "root causes" of the conflict needed to be addressed for a sustainable peace. "There were many, many points that we agreed on … I would say a couple of big ones that we haven't quite got there, but we've made some headway," Trump said after Putin's remarks last month, without elaborating.

H2Nut on September 10th, 2025 at 06:57 UTC »

A portion of India's oil imports come from Russia, which is purchased at a price cap set by the 'Price Cap Coalition' (G7 + EU + Australia). International customers (including some EU countries) purchase refined petroleum products from India at market prices.

In 2024, Russia represented about 12% of global oil production and 18% of oil exports. What do you think would have happened if 1/6 of global oil market supply was suddenly cutoff? A basic understanding of the core concepts of supply and demand in macroeconomics would be beneficial.

India's increased purchases of Russian oil, rather than undermining global sanctions, have served as a critical market stabilizing mechanism that has prevented far more severe economic consequences. By absorbing nearly 40% of Russia's oil exports, India has maintained global supply availability, preventing catastrophic price spikes that could have triggered $150 per barrel oil prices, and avoided additional inflationary pressures.

With alternative major suppliers Venezuela and Iran constrained by illegal sanctions and OPEC+ spare capacity insufficient to replace Russian volumes, India's pragmatic energy procurement strategy has inadvertently protected the global economy from the full shock of removing a supplier representing over 18% of world oil exports. This "laundering" process, while politically controversial, has maintained global refined product supplies and prevented even more severe price increases in gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel markets.

Having said all of that, I condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I also believe that realpolitik ultimately rules in a country's decision making process. This is true in a democracy, a dictatorship and a hybrid.

UnlikelyOpposite7478 on September 10th, 2025 at 06:25 UTC »

Trump pushing the EU to slap 100 percent tariffs on India and China just to squeeze Putin feels like the most backwards way of handling foreign policy. It is basically saying punish two of the biggest economies on the planet that are not directly tied to the war in Ukraine in order to make a point. That does not just put pressure on China and India, it drags Europe into a trade war that will hit their own consumers harder than anyone. Europe is already struggling with inflation and energy costs, and now he is asking them to choke off cheap imports at the same time.

What makes this even more absurd is how little leverage the EU really has in this situation. India is not going to change its stance toward Russia just because German households are paying more for goods. China is not going to bend simply because Brussels decided to double tariffs on consumer electronics or textiles. If anything, it just hardens their positions and pushes them closer together. Meanwhile European exporters would be crushed when retaliatory tariffs inevitably come flying back. Farmers, auto makers, and manufacturers in Europe would end up paying the price for a strategy that has nothing to do with them.

The bigger picture is Trump trying to turn everything into transactional muscle flexing. He treats alliances as tools to extend his own policies rather than mutual partnerships. But demanding the EU risk its own economy just to pressure two global giants into isolating Russia is reckless at best. It shows a complete disregard for how global supply chains actually function and how trade retaliation spirals out of control.

joebck on September 10th, 2025 at 06:16 UTC »

It is an interesting approach. After undermining the relationship with the EU through various means, threats, and statements, he seeks their support as his trade war "tactics" are failing? The biggest outcome so far is a thaw between India and China and a stronger, reaffirmed relationship with Russia - all while he has taken a sledgehammer to all former American alliances, effectively eroding trust. Let's see where it goes.