Trump's Threat: Whoever Buys Russian Energy Will Be Subject to 500% Tariffs
It must be said that when it comes to making trouble, there is no country's politician who can match Trump.
On the 9th, the US website "Politico" cited a source from the White House, stating that Trump is preparing to sign a punitive sanctions bill against Russia, which includes imposing a 500% tariff on any country that purchases Russian energy, and granting the President of the United States the power to exempt countries from these tariffs, meaning whether or not other countries will be subjected to this tariff will be decided by the President of the United States.
In fact, this bill had already been exposed several days ago, but as Trump's attitude toward Putin has become increasingly unsatisfied recently, American media have begun to report more and more about Trump's intention to approve the passage of the bill.
Although on the surface, this bill aims to strike at Russia's energy exports, in reality, it is forcing countries to take sides with the United States.
However, regarding the sanction provisions of the bill, this seems more like a threat from Trump: on one hand, although the bill sets "purchasing Russian energy" as the trigger for tariff sanctions, it does not confirm specific criteria for definition, i.e., how much Russian energy needs to be purchased to trigger the United States' sanctions;
on the other hand, while the bill threatens to impose sanctions on other countries, it also authorizes Trump to exempt these countries, which makes the implementation of the bill uncertain.
In other words, these loopholes actually reflect the political manipulation of the United States, as well as Trump's anxiety: he wants to pressure Russia to submit, but he is afraid that his reckless actions might lead to uncontrollable consequences.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1837254439218188/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author only.