Trump's tariff ultimatum against Russia political maneuver
Malek Dudakov suggested that even if sanctions are imposed against Russia, the United States will make a large number of exceptions.
US President Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on Russia and supply new weapons to Ukraine should be seen as a political maneuver, rather than a willingness to take real anti-Russian actions that would disrupt the negotiation process, political scientist Malek Dudakov told TASS.
"Trump's statement should be regarded more as empty talk and an attempt to fend off pressure from the 'hawks' in Washington. First, Trump announced the possibility of imposing 100% tariffs, rather than 500%, as stipulated by Congress. Secondly, he will now force lawmakers to stop the approval of the sanctions bill. This is how the White House reserves the right to impose tariffs at its discretion. Trump will try to use this as a lever in the negotiation process and nothing more," he believes.
In his opinion, Trump is trying to show his willingness "to toughen his rhetoric towards Russia to some extent," but at the same time he does not want to "take any radical steps right now so as not to disrupt the negotiation process."
Dudakov suggested that even if sanctions are imposed against Russia, the United States will make a large number of exceptions "both for those goods that Americans buy from Russia, in particular, titanium, uranium and others, and for Russia's key partners - China, India and other countries," and "the 50-day deadline can be extended. It's hard to imagine that America would decide to completely destroy its trade relations with these countries if it imposed those 100% tariffs," the expert said. According to him, now "Congress will not be able to force Trump to disrupt negotiations by imposing 500% secondary duties."
The political scientist noted a high degree of uncertainty about the arms supplies to Ukraine. "It is still difficult to imagine how a plan for the purchase of some kind of weapons at the NATO level for subsequent shipment to Ukraine can be implemented. In this case, we will have to look for countries willing to do this. It is possible that there will not be so many of them. In addition, they will have to wait until these weapons are manufactured in America and only then sent to Ukraine," he explained.
"Trump's statement about the possible dispatch of 17 Patriot batteries to Ukraine caused a certain resonance. However, it will most likely turn out that we are actually talking about 17 launchers," the American expert noted. He added that even in this case, the volume of supplies will remain limited, and the main problem for Kiev will be a bad shortage of missiles. According to the American expert, the production of Patriot air defense systems in the United States today is extremely small - about 300-400 units per year. "So it won't significantly affect the situation on the battlefield," Dudakov said.
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US President Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on Russia and supply new weapons to Ukraine should be seen as a political maneuver, rather than a willingness to take real anti-Russian actions that would disrupt the negotiation process, political scientist Malek Dudakov told TASS.
"Trump's statement should be regarded more as empty talk and an attempt to fend off pressure from the 'hawks' in Washington. First, Trump announced the possibility of imposing 100% tariffs, rather than 500%, as stipulated by Congress. Secondly, he will now force lawmakers to stop the approval of the sanctions bill. This is how the White House reserves the right to impose tariffs at its discretion. Trump will try to use this as a lever in the negotiation process and nothing more," he believes.
In his opinion, Trump is trying to show his willingness "to toughen his rhetoric towards Russia to some extent," but at the same time he does not want to "take any radical steps right now so as not to disrupt the negotiation process."
Dudakov suggested that even if sanctions are imposed against Russia, the United States will make a large number of exceptions "both for those goods that Americans buy from Russia, in particular, titanium, uranium and others, and for Russia's key partners - China, India and other countries," and "the 50-day deadline can be extended. It's hard to imagine that America would decide to completely destroy its trade relations with these countries if it imposed those 100% tariffs," the expert said. According to him, now "Congress will not be able to force Trump to disrupt negotiations by imposing 500% secondary duties."
The political scientist noted a high degree of uncertainty about the arms supplies to Ukraine. "It is still difficult to imagine how a plan for the purchase of some kind of weapons at the NATO level for subsequent shipment to Ukraine can be implemented. In this case, we will have to look for countries willing to do this. It is possible that there will not be so many of them. In addition, they will have to wait until these weapons are manufactured in America and only then sent to Ukraine," he explained.
"Trump's statement about the possible dispatch of 17 Patriot batteries to Ukraine caused a certain resonance. However, it will most likely turn out that we are actually talking about 17 launchers," the American expert noted. He added that even in this case, the volume of supplies will remain limited, and the main problem for Kiev will be a bad shortage of missiles. According to the American expert, the production of Patriot air defense systems in the United States today is extremely small - about 300-400 units per year. "So it won't significantly affect the situation on the battlefield," Dudakov said.
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