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US senators on Sunday touted a bipartisan bill that would arm President Donald Trump with “sledgehammer” sanctions to use against Russia, ahead of a visit by the US special envoy to Ukraine.Trump has indicated he would be open to the sanctions bill as relations with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin grow increasingly frosty.US special envoy Keith Kellogg is due to begin his latest visit to Ukraine while Trump said he would make a “major statement… on Russia” on Monday.Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he had majority backing in the Senate for his bill, which was gaining momentum as Washington-led peace efforts in Ukraine have struggled to make headway.The bill would allow Trump “to go after Putin’s economy, and all those countries who prop up the Putin war machine,” Graham told broadcaster CBS news.Trump, who has repeatedly said he is “disappointed” with Putin as Moscow unleashed deadly barrages of missiles against Kyiv, has hinted he might finally be ready to toughen sanctions.Trump held off for the past six months while he tried to persuade Putin to end the war. But the Republican president’s patience appears to be wearing thin, telling reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House Tuesday that Putin was talking “a lot of bullshit” on Ukraine.Last week, Trump also agreed to send Zelensky more weapons, including through a deal with NATO which would involve the alliance purchasing US weapons to send to Ukraine.On Thursday, Trump appeared to back the bill without detailing whether he would use it to slap sanctions on Moscow.”They’re going to pass a very major and very biting sanctions bill, but it’s up to the president as to whether or not he wants to exercise it,” Trump told broadcaster NBC.Asked during a cabinet meeting about his interest in the bill, Trump said: “I’m looking at it very strongly.””This congressional package that we’re looking at would give President Trump the ability to impose 500% tariffs on any country that helps Russia,” said Graham, adding that those could include economies that purchase Russian goods like China, India or Brazil.”This is truly a sledgehammer available to President Trump to end this war,” said Graham.”Without a doubt, this is exactly the kind of leverage that can bring peace closer and make sure diplomacy is not empty,” the Ukrainian leader said about the proposed bill in an X post.Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal were to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday night.Blumenthal told CBS news they would also discuss the legally thorny issue of unlocking frozen Russian assets in Europe and the United States for access by Ukraine.”The $5 billion that the United States has also could be accessed, and I think it’s time to do it,” said Blumenthal.

France’s defence relations with Australia have recovered after their 2021 bust-up over a major submarine contract, the country’s ambassador said Sunday.Paris expressed its “strong regrets” when Australia tore up a multibillion-dollar deal to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines from France, Ambassador Pierre-Andre Imbert said.Since the 2022 election of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, the defence relationship had been “restarted”, he said.”Now, the first pillar of our cooperation is defence and security, so we have a very good level of cooperation,” the ambassador told AFP as French forces joined major military drills around Australia.When Australia ditched the French deal, it opted instead to acquire nuclear-powered vessels in a new three-way AUKUS pact with the United States and Britain.But a US defence official last month revealed that a review of AUKUS was underway to ensure it “aligned with the President’s America First agenda” and that the US defence industrial base was “meeting our needs”.Under the AUKUS deal, Australia would acquire at least three Virginia class submarines from the United States within 15 years, eventually manufacturing its own subs.The US Navy has 24 Virginia-class vessels but American shipyards are struggling to meet production targets set at two new boats each year. Asked if France would ever consider discussing a new submarine deal with Australia if the AUKUS agreement was torpedoed by the review, the French ambassador said he was reluctant to speculate.”I would say it’s more an issue for Australia for the moment. And of course, we are always discussing with our friends of Australia,” he said.”But for the moment, they have chosen AUKUS,” he said. “If this changes (and) they ask, we’ll see.”More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join the three-week, annual Talisman Sabre military exercises, which started Sunday across Australia and Papua New Guinea.

European and US stock markets retreated Friday as US President Donald Trump ramped up his trade offensive, threatening a 35-percent levy on Canada.Trump dampened earlier optimism by firing off more than 20 letters to governments outlining new tariffs if agreements are not reached by August 1.Bitcoin meanwhile pushed on with its climb, reaching an all-time high above $118,000.The dollar was higher against its main rivals, and oil prices gained.Wall Street’s three main indices fell, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreating from records.But the pullback was relatively modest, implying that many investors are taking a wait-and-see approach to Trump’s latest tariff broadsides.”We have yet to see new substantial tariffs actually be enforced,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments, describing investors as skeptical the biggest levies will actually be enacted.A note from Oxford Economics characterized Trump’s moves as “more tariff theatrics,” while allowing that the levy on Canada produced “jitters.”In Europe, where investors were awaiting news of Trump’s new tariff level targeting the European Union, the Paris stock market dropped 0.9 percent and Frankfurt 0.8 percent.”The fallout hasn’t been more pronounced because the market still continues to view all of this as a point of negotiating leverage,” said analyst Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.Trump dialed up his trade war rhetoric Thursday, warning that Canada faced a 35-percent tax, while other countries would be handed blanket tariffs of up to 20 percent, from the current 10 percent.That came after he outlined plans to impose 50-percent tariffs on copper imports, while threatening 200-percent levies on pharmaceuticals, and hit Brazil with a new 50-percent charge.The moves are the latest by the White House in a campaign it says is aimed at ending decades of the United States being “ripped off”.Trump’s initial bombshell tariffs announcement in April sent markets into turmoil until he paused them for three months, and the latest measures have had less impact.London’s FTSE 100 and the pound retreated after data showed the UK economy unexpectedly shrank in May — its second consecutive monthly decline.That followed a mixed session in Asia, where Hong Kong rose, Tokyo fell and Shanghai flattened by the close.Shares in BP jumped 3.4 percent in London after the energy giant said it expected to report higher oil and gas production for its second quarter.Levi Strauss & Co. shot up 11.3 percent after reporting higher profits on a 6.4 percent rise in revenues. The denim company scored especially solid growth in the Americas and Europe.- Key figures at around 2050 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 44,371.51 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 percent at 6,259.75 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 20,585.53 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,941.12 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,829.29 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.8 percent at 24,255.31 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 39,569.68 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 24,139.57 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,510.18 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1690 from $1.1701 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3497 from $1.3579Dollar/yen: UP at 147.38 yen from 146.26 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.59 pence from 86.16 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 2.5 percent at $68.64 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.8 percent at $66.57 per barrelburs-jmb/des

Stock markets mostly retreated Friday as US President Donald Trump ramped up his trade war, threatening a higher blanket tariff and a 35-percent levy on Canada.Trump dampened earlier optimism by firing off more than 20 letters to governments outlining new tolls if agreements aren’t reached by August 1.Bitcoin meanwhile pushed on with its climb, reaching an all-time high above $118,000. The dollar and oil prices both gained.”The optimism from earlier in the week… is giving way to fears of an impending tariff surprise as the weekend approaches,” said Jochen Stanzl, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.In Europe, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets each dropped around one percent. Investors were awaiting news of Trump’s new tariff level targeting the European Union, with a letter expected by the end of the week. London’s FTSE 100 and the pound retreated also after data showed the UK economy unexpectedly shrank in May — its second consecutive monthly decline.That followed a mixed session in Asia where Hong Kong rose, Tokyo fell and Shanghai flattened by the close.Trump dialled up his trade war rhetoric Thursday, warning that Canada faced a 35 percent tax, while other countries would be handed blanket tariffs of up to 20 percent, from the current 10 percent.That came after he outlined plans to impose 50-percent tariffs on copper imports, while threatening 200 percent levies on pharmaceuticals, and hit Brazil with a new 50 percent charge.The moves are the latest by the White House in a campaign it says is aimed at ending decades of the United States being “ripped off”.Trump’s initial bombshell announcement of tariffs on April 2 sent markets into turmoil until he paused them for three months and the latest measures have had less impact.All three main indices on Wall Street rose Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh peaks, hours after the FTSE 100 in London achieved an all-time high.Shares in BP jumped around two percent in London on Friday after the energy giant said it expected to report higher oil and gas production for its second quarter. But the FTSE 100 was down overall nearing midday.- Key figures at around 1040 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,923.68 pointsParis – CAC 40: DOWN 1.0 percent at 7,825.22 Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.1 percent at 24,193.54Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 39,569.68 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 24,139.57 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,510.18 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,650.64 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1692 from $1.1698 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3540 from $1.3576Dollar/yen: UP at 146.80 yen from 146.19 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.36 pence from 86.16 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.6 percent at $69.06 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $67.04 per barrel

Stocks were mixed Friday as investors cautiously watched trade developments as US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff salvos tempered optimism that most countries will strike a deal to avoid the worst of his levies.The US president has ramped up his trade war in the past week by firing off more than 20 letters to governments outlining new tolls if agreements aren’t reached by August 1.He has also said he would impose 50 percent tariffs on copper imports, while threatening 200 percent on pharmaceuticals, and hit Brazil with a new 50 percent charge while slamming its “witch hunt” trial of former leader Jair Bolsonaro on coup charges.Thursday saw him dial up the rhetoric by warning Canada faced a 35 percent tax, while most other countries would be handed blanket tariffs of up to 20 percent, from the current 10 percent.The moves are the latest by the White House in a campaign it says is aimed at ending decades of the United States being “ripped off”.”We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20 percent or 15 percent. We’ll work that out now,” Trump told NBC News. “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today,” Trump added.Stephen Innes, at SPI Asset Management, said: “Just as the market was catching its breath at new highs… President Trump tugged the rug again.”A new act in the tariff opera… Trump is less policymaker than ringmaster, whipping markets with one hand while feeding red meat to his base with the other. “Every letter sent to a trade partner is a chess move disguised as a slap.”While his initial bombshell announcement of tariffs on April 2 sent markets into turmoil, until he paused them for three months, the latest measures have had less impact.Analysts say traders now expect a deal or another delay, while investors appear to be waiting until a deal is done or the tariffs kick in. All three main indexes on Wall Street rose Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh peaks, hours after the FTSE in London had done so.Asia started Friday on a strong note but lost momentum as the day progressed.Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta rose, while Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Manila, Mumbai and Wellington fell. Shanghai was flat.London edged down in the morning as data showed the UK economy unexpectedly shrank in May, while Paris and Frankfurt were also in the red.Australia and New Zealand Banking Group’s Khoon Goh said Asian investors were expected to “pare back their positions ahead of the weekend, to avoid any whiplash that could occur next week on further tariff news over the next couple of days”.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 39,569.68 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 24,139.57 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,510.18 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,968.55Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1689 from $1.1698 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3547 from $1.3576Dollar/yen: UP at 146.82 yen from 146.19 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.29 pence from 86.16 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $67.04 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.6 percent at $69.03 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,650.64 (close)

China’s economy is expected to have expanded more than five percent in the second quarter thanks to strong exports, analysts say, but they warned Donald Trump’s trade war could cause a sharp slowdown in the final six months.The world’s second-largest economy is fighting a multi-front battle to sustain growth, a challenge made more difficult by the US president’s tariff campaign.Trump has imposed levies on China and most other major trading partners since returning to office in January, threatening Beijing’s exports just as it becomes more reliant on them to stimulate economic activity.Washington and Beijing have sought to de-escalate their trade spat after reaching a framework for a deal at talks in London last month, but observers warn of lingering uncertainty.Official data on Tuesday will show how China’s overall economy fared during the April-June period as leaders worked to shield the country from external pressures while encouraging consumers to spend up.An AFP survey of analysts forecasts data on Tuesday will show a 5.2 percent expansion of gross domestic product in the second quarter compared with last year, with many anticipating slower growth in the next six months.”Ultimately, external trade alone cannot offset the drag from weak domestic demand,” Sarah Tan, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, told AFP.”Without stronger, sustained policy support and structural reforms to boost household incomes and confidence, China’s recovery risks further loss of momentum in the second half,” Tan said.- Export surge -Data released this week showed that consumer prices edged up in June, barely snapping a four-month deflationary dip, but factory gate prices dropped at their fastest clip in nearly two years.The producer price index, which measures the price of wholesale goods as they leave the factory, declined 3.6 percent year-on-year last month, extending a years-long negative run.”Deflationary pressures haven’t abated and labour market indicators continue to underwhelm,” Betty Wang, lead economist at Oxford Economics, told AFP.”We remain somewhat cautious on the outlook” for the rest of the year, Wang said.China’s exports reached record heights last year, offering a lifeline to the economy as pressures elsewhere mounted.Overseas shipments likely remained strong in the second quarter this year, with analysts pointing to a surge caused by foreign buyers frontloading purchases to prepare for future trade turbulence under Trump.”April was particularly good for exports given the high US import tariffs that month,” Alicia Garcia-Herrero, Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, told AFP.The strong performance led to an upward revision of their forecast for China’s second-quarter growth, she said, but warned that it “should be much weaker” for the rest of the year.Many economists argue that China needs to shift towards a growth model propelled more by domestic consumption than the traditional key drivers of infrastructure investment, manufacturing and exports.- ‘Profitless’ growth -Beijing has introduced a slew of measures since last year in a bid to boost spending, including a consumer goods trade-in subsidy scheme that briefly lifted retail activity.However, Tan said the scheme did little to address the causes of consumer caution “such as stagnant income growth, weak job security and fragile sentiment”.Beijing is targeting an overall expansion of around five percent this year — the same as last year but a figure considered ambitious by many experts.First-quarter growth came in at 5.4 percent, beating forecasts and putting the economy on a positive trajectory.”While the headline GDP growth may exceed five percent year-on-year in (the first half of 2025), it has been driven by manufacturing and exports,” wrote Larry Hu and Yuxiao Zhang, economists at Macquarie.”But as domestic demand remains weak, this growth has been deflationary, jobless and profitless,” they added.Beijing’s bid to achieve its official growth goal this year hinges on how it manages its trade relationship with Washington, as well as additional efforts to boost domestic spending such as lowering interest rates.Some experts say that better-than-expected growth could lead it to avoid adopting the deep reforms needed to put its economy on a more sustainable footing.”Without a strong policy stimulus, it’s hard to escape the ongoing deflationary spiral,” wrote Hu and Zhang.”However, a policy bazooka is unlikely until exports slow down significantly.”This is because policymakers only want to hit the five percent growth target, not overachieve it,” they said.

Stocks mostly rose Friday in Asia, tracking records in New York and London, as investors absorbed US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff salvos amid optimism that most countries will strike a deal to avoid the worst of his levies.The US president has ramped up his trade war in the past week by firing off more than 20 letters to governments outlining new tolls if agreements aren’t reached by August 1.He has also said he would impose 50 percent tariffs on copper imports, while threatening 200 percent on pharmaceuticals, and hit Brazil with a new 50 percent charge.Thursday saw him dial up the rhetoric by warning Canada faced a 35 percent tax, while most other countries would be handed blanket tariffs of up to 20 percent, from the current 10 percent.The moves are the latest by the White House in a campaign it says is aimed at ending decades of the United States being “ripped off”.”We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20 percent or 15 percent. We’ll work that out now,” Trump told NBC News. “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today,” Trump added.However, while his initial bombshell announcement of tariffs on April 2 sent markets into turmoil, until he paused them for three months, the latest measures have had less impact.Analysts say traders now expect a deal or another delay, while investors appear to be waiting until a deal is done or the tariffs kick in. All three main indexes on Wall Street rose Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh peaks, hours after the FTSE in London had done so.And Asia largely followed the gains, with Hong Kong up more than one percent, with Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta also in positive territory.There were small losses in Tokyo, Sydney and Wellington.Still, observers remain cautious.”Just as the market was catching its breath at new highs… President Trump tugged the rug again,” said Stephen Innes as SPI Asset Management.”His tariff doctrine is now fully weaponised — not merely to correct imbalances, but to assert dominion. “Every letter sent to a trade partner is a chess move disguised as a slap,” Innes said.Khoon Goh, from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, expected “more risk aversion across Asia”.Investors will “pare back their positions ahead of the weekend, to avoid any whiplash that could occur next week on further tariff news over the next couple of days”, he said.- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 39,593.84 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.6 percent at 24,413.74Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,530.11Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1684 from $1.1698 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3567 from $1.3576Dollar/yen: UP at 146.74 yen from 146.19 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.12 pence from 86.16 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.8 percent at $67.08 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $69.09 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,650.64 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 1.2 percent at 8,975.66 (close)

US President Donald Trump has announced a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports as he accused the country’s leftist leadership of orchestrating a “witch hunt” against his right-wing ally, former leader Jair Bolsonaro.In a letter Wednesday to counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Trump insisted that Bolsonaro’s trial — for allegedly plotting a coup to hold on to power after 2022 elections he lost — “should not be taking place.”Trump has historically reserved his tariff ire for countries with which the United States runs a negative trade balance. Brazil is not one.Analysts say ideological considerations, not economics, are behind the US president’s actions in defense of Bolsonaro, dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics.”- Firm friends -“Brazil came up on Trump’s radar now because Bolsonaro’s trial is advancing and there are Republican lawmakers who brought the issue to the White House,” Leonardo Paz, a political scientist at Brazil’s Getulio Vargas Foundation, told AFP. Eduardo Bolsonaro, the former president’s son and a Brazilian congressman, recently moved to the United States where he lobbies for pressure on Brasilia and the judges presiding over his father’s coup trial. Lula blames Bolsonaro’s son for troubling the bilateral waters, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered an investigation into whether the US-based campaign constitutes obstruction of justice.Moraes is an arch foe of Bolsonaro, who has labeled the justice a “dictator.”US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke in May of a “great possibility” of sanctions against Moraes, who has clashed repeatedly with rightwingers and former Trump ally Elon Musk in a quest to stamp out online disinformation.Bolsonaro calls Trump a “friend” and says they are both victims of “persecution.”- ‘Non-economic reasons’ -In his missive to Lula, Trump complained of “a very unfair trade relationship” with Brazil.But official Brazilian figures show a near two-decade sustained surplus in favor of the United States. Last year, it was almost $284 million.The United States is Brazil’s third-largest trading partner after China and the European Union. It imports mainly crude oil and semi-finished iron and steel products from the South American powerhouse.Brazil in turn primarily imports non-electric engines and machines, and fuel from up north.In a sign of Brazilian business jitters, the Sao Paulo Federation of Industries called Thursday for a “calm” response to the “non-economic reasons” for Trump’s tariffs.Lula has said Brazil would be willing to reciprocate, in spite of Trump’s warning of further escalation if it did so.- Free speech tussle -Trump also complained of Brazilian “attacks” on free speech and “hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL censorship orders to US media platforms” issued by Brazil’s Supreme Court.Last month, the court toughened social media regulation, upping the accountability of platforms for user content in a groundbreaking case for Latin America on the spread of fake news and hate speech.Last year, Moraes blocked Musk’s X platform for 40 days for failing to comply with a series of court orders against online disinformation.He had also ordered the suspension in Brazil of Rumble, a video-sharing platform popular with conservative and far-right voices — including Trump’s son Don Jr. — over its refusal to block a user accused of spreading disinformation.Detractors accuse the judge of running a campaign to stifle free speech.- BRICS brawl -“It didn’t help that the BRICS summit was held in Brazil at a time a narrative exists in the United States portraying the bloc as anti-Western,” said Paz.Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the group on Sunday spoke out against Trump’s “indiscriminate” tariff hikes, prompting the president to threaten further trade penalties.Members China, Russia and India refrained from hitting back, but Lula took it upon himself to defend the “sovereign” nature of BRICS governments, insisting: “We don’t want an emperor.”Behind the scenes, Brasilia has been negotiating with Washington for months to try and avoid the worst of Trump’s tariff war.A member of Lula’s entourage told AFP that Trump’s attack on Brazil was partly inspired by “discomfort caused by the strength of the BRICS,” whose members account for about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output.

As President Donald Trump ramps up tariff threats on US trading partners, his administration is taking aim at a tactic said to be used by Chinese companies to dodge the levies by moving goods through third countries.The issue is “transshipping,” or having products pass through a country to avoid harsher trade barriers elsewhere, a practice Washington has accused Chinese companies of.”Goods transshipped to evade a higher Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff,” Trump warned in letters issued since Monday, days after unveiling a trade pact with Vietnam that promised steeper duties for such goods too.”The clause is less about Vietnam per se and more about signaling that rules-of-origin games across the broader Asian production network will attract a premium penalty,” said Barath Harithas, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.He told AFP the White House is likely making two points at once: closing a back door to China and putting the rest of Asia on notice.Noting that Vietnam was “the single biggest winner from Chinese supply-chain diversion since the first Trump tariffs in 2018,” Harithas said the US administration is keen to avoid a repeat of this situation.Ten of the 14 countries first to receive Trump’s tariff letters this week were in Asia and mostly Southeast Asia, which sits between Chinese component suppliers and western consumer markets.”Washington’s message seems to be: ‘Either help us police Chinese evasion or absorb higher duties yourselves,'” Harithas said.- ‘Whack-a-mole’ -“I think it is clear that transshipment of Chinese goods so far this year is massive,” said Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.While there has been a drop in direct exports from China to the United States, this is “more than offset by” trade shifts elsewhere, he told AFP. In a recent report, Brooks noted that Chinese exports to both Thailand and Vietnam started surging “anomalously” in early 2025 as Trump began threatening widespread tariffs.It is unclear if all of these goods end up in the United States.But he cast doubt on the likelihood that domestic demand in both these countries rocketed right around the time that Washington imposed fresh duties, saying tariffs tend to instead bog down global trade due to uncertainty.Similarly, Chinese exports to the European Union, he said, also rose markedly in early 2025.”It’s a little bit like whack-a-mole,” Brooks said, adding that as long as Washington maintains different tariff rates for different countries, business will try to take advantage of the lowest levels.This in turn could be a reason that US inflation remains muted despite wide-ranging duties including a 10 percent rate on almost all US trading partners, and levels of up to 50 percent on sector-specific imports like steel and aluminum.Transshipment is not a China-specific issue. Concerns also flared in recent years over goods bound for Russia — skirting European export controls — after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.- Complications -But it is difficult to draw a line defining product origins.While Washington may take issue with Chinese-headquartered companies moving production facilities to third countries, for example, many firms genuinely export components for value-added manufacturing to take place.In Vietnam, raw materials from the world’s second biggest economy are the lifeblood of manufacturing industries. There is massive uncertainty over how an incoming 40 percent US tariff on goods passing through the country — double the 20 percent rate applied to Vietnamese goods — might be applied.Emily Benson, head of strategy at Minerva Technology Futures, said the Trump administration appears to be trying to simplify an otherwise complex web of legal definitions.”But whether or not that will work for other trading partners remains to be seen,” she said.While products from China might be impacted, she believes the White House’s intentions stretch beyond Beijing.”They’re trying to load a bunch of negotiations on to this reciprocal (tariffs) vehicle,” she added. “And they want other countries to play by the rules.”