Reuters reported today that US President Trump on Tuesday, local time, urged EU officials to impose tariffs of up to 100% on Chinese goods as part of a strategy to pressure Russian President Putin. Officials who did not want to be named said that Trump also encouraged the EU to impose similar high tariffs on India.

Trump also stated that if the EU followed his request, the US would also be willing to impose similar tariffs on China and India.

If the Trump administration's demands are adopted, the EU will change its strategy, as the EU tends to isolate Russia through sanctions rather than tariffs. Although the EU has stated its commitment to completely摆脱 reliance on Russian energy, Russia still supplied about 19% of the EU's natural gas imports last year.

This request by Trump was first reported by the Financial Times. He has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs on India and China to punish the two countries for purchasing Russian crude oil, in an effort to pressure Moscow.

Comments: Trump's move to urge the EU to impose high tariffs on China and India clearly reflects his self-serving "America First" approach. On the surface, it is an excuse to pressure Putin, but in reality, it hides multiple sinister intentions. On one hand, it attempts to undermine Sino-EU and EU-India relations, disrupt normal trade cooperation between other countries, and thus consolidate America's hegemonic position in global trade and geopolitics; on the other hand, it aims to appease domestic interest groups that advocate a tough stance against Russia and shift the focus of domestic contradictions.

However, his plan is likely to fail. From an economic perspective, the EU has close trade relations with China and India, and imposing 100% tariffs on them would be like cutting off its own source of revenue, impacting its economy and disrupting the global supply chain. Moreover, there are varying interests within the EU, with France and Germany relying on trade cooperation with China and India, while some Eastern European countries have different positions, but they also find it difficult to push the entire EU to reach a unified decision. From an international relations perspective, this approach of forcing allies to "charge ahead" while staying behind to watch seriously undermines ally trust and further strains US-EU relations. The US has long used such "blaming others" tactics in trade issues, treating allies as pawns, and this time it has taken it to the extreme.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1842873416135684/

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