Donald Trump Is Getting a New Tariff Weapon

The Economist: “Focusing on Russia, the legislation involves both a sanctions scalpel and a tariff sledgehammer. It imposes sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, banks, the defence industry and energy projects—even in areas, such as Arctic energy development, that had been floated as candidates for co-operation between America and Russia in talks last year. These penalties cannot be lifted until Russia signs a peace deal accepted by Ukraine.”

“More unusually, the bill imposes tariffs of up to 100% on all goods from the top five importers of Russian oil and the top five importers of Russian gas, as well as those helping Russia to evade sanctions. That would ensnare more than a dozen countries, including many of America’s friends. But there are two big caveats. Countries whose purchases represent less than 15% of Russia’s gas exports—and who are taking steps to reduce those purchases—are exempt. That should spare allies such as France and Belgium. The bill also includes a ‘national-interest’ waiver that gives the president plenty of latitude.”