US President Donald Trump has again threatened China with increasing duties, this time to 245%. This statement was published on the official website of the White House. | According to the source, Trump imposed a 10% duty on all countries and set higher individual tariffs for those with the largest trade deficit with the United States. ● More than 75 countries have approached the White House with proposals for new trade agreements. As a result, the imposition of individual increased tariffs was temporarily suspended, with the exception of China, which responded with similar measures. (Translation: DeepL) (Original)

■ US threatens China with 245% tariff (RT)
■ US Playing Hardball: Restrict China’s Access in Exchange for Fewer Tariffs on Allies (Sputnik)
✅ War by other means — Trump’s tariffs and the empire’s final gamble (Thomas Fazi)

Iskander Lutsko, the Dubai-based head of research and portfolio management at Istar Capital, noted a visible thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington, which, in his view, also played a role in making the Russian currency more attractive to investors | The Russian ruble has strengthened against the dollar by 38% in over-the-counter trading since the beginning of the year, becoming the world's most profitable currency due to the US dollar weakening amid new American duties, Bloomberg reported, citing economists. ● "Unlike many emerging-market currencies, the ruble is not facing pressure from capital outflow, caused by global investors’ retreat from riskier assets," Sofya Donets, an economist at T-Investments, told the agency.

A senior Chinese official warned Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s tariffs would backfire and that soon, “those peasants in the U.S.” would “wail in front of the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.” | The remarks are the latest Chinese repudiation of Trump’s global trade war as Beijing shifts gears from attempting to communicate with the White House to hitting back frequently and forcefully in an effort to cast the United States as an irresponsible global power. ● China’s top official overseeing Hong Kong and Macao, Xia Baolong (shown above), lashed out at the U.S. during a speech on national security, in which he linked 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong with what Beijing sees as continued U.S. efforts to suppress China. Xia called the U.S. decision to levy a tariff of 145 percent on all goods from Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China...

💬 “...brutally unreasonable and extremely shameless.” ● “The U.S. isn’t after our tariffs but our very survival,” he said. “The U.S. has repeatedly contained and suppressed Hong Kong … and this will eventually backfire on itself.”

Since Trump took office in January and set about remaking the global trading system, the world’s two largest economies have levied import duties on each other that are now so high they amount to a trade embargo. ● China has countered Washington’s latest levies by imposing a tariff of 125 percent on all U.S. goods while Trump has maintained 145 percent taxes on all Chinese imports, with temporary exceptions for semiconductors and consumer electronics.

US and Ukrainian officials met on the draft proposal in Washington on Friday, the source said | The draft agreement on Ukrainian minerals suggested by the United States contains a demand that the US government's International Development Finance Corporation take control of a natural gas pipeline from Russia's Gazprom across Ukraine to Europe, Reuters reported citing a source with knowledge of the matter. ● US and Ukrainian officials met on the draft proposal in Washington on Friday, the source said. Prospects for a breakthrough were scant given the meeting's "antagonistic" atmosphere, the agency wrote. "The negotiating environment is very antagonistic," the source said, pointing to the "maximalist" draft submitted by the US administration in March. A Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed the discussions, calling them "technical in nature."

■ Reuters: переговоры США и Украины по ископаемым прошли в атмосфере антагонизма (https://ren.tv/)

China retaliated Friday to higher U.S. tariffs, slapping 125% levies on U.S. goods, but signaled it would apply no further measures in the future.

💬 "If the U.S. continues to increase tariffs on Chinese exports, China will not respond," China's Ministry of Finance said in a statement announcing the new levies, in a sign that Chinese authorities see no real upside to any further tit-for-tat measures beyond these. "Given the current level of tariffs, U.S. goods exported to China are no longer market-viable," the statement added by way of explanation.

■ Xi warns US will isolate itself (RT)
✅ China Escalates With 125% Tariff On US Imports, Signals Will "Ignore" Future Retaliation (Tyler Durden)

Moon of Alabama | These are interesting times to live in ... | President Trump likely thought that he could press China into making a deal with him. The tariffs he imposed were supposed to create leverage for that. Instead he found that China is willing and able to fight back. ■ When the U.S. launched its proxy war in Ukraine against Russia it thought that it could defeat Russia by economic means. A wall of sanctions and other restrictions were to destroy the Russian economy. But Russia was prepared and much stronger than the U.S. had anticipated. Its economy did better than those of the countries which opposed it. A similar miscalculation seems to have happened with regards to China. Trump is not knowledgeable about China's mighty economy.

After the 2008 financial crisis, US money managers took control of big banks and industries across Europe. Former Russian ambassador to the UK and Rossiya Segodnya deputy chief Alexander Yakovenko reveals how. | US asset managers BlackRock, Vanguard, Fidelity, State Street, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase control a combined $36.4T+ in wealth. ● That's MASSIVE power to consolidate control in systemically important industries worldwide — including Europe. ● Mega-funds enjoy strong patronage from the US government, which uses the Fed, courts, sanctions and scandals to deal blows to foreign competitors before US capital swoops in to buy them out. ● US mega-funds seized control of KEY European companies after 2008, giving Washington powerful levers to exact pressure — economically, politically & even militarily. ●&nbspMega-fund influence has effectively turned the EU into a gigantic buffer absorbing US financial and economic risks.

China’s retaliation against President Donald Trump’s tariffs includes more export controls on rare earth minerals, which are vital to electronics and battery manufacturing. | The Chinese government said over the weekend that it will maintain its supply of rare earths to the rest of the world stable while limiting U.S. access to the minerals. China is the world’s dominant producer of rare earth minerals, accounting for about 70 percent of the world’s supply at the moment. More precisely, China supplies roughly 60 percent of the raw minerals, but controls almost 90 percent of processing and refining capacity. China controlled 90 percent of the market a decade ago, but alternative suppliers have ramped up production. The Chinese retaliated for this infringement upon their near-monopoly by setting record-high production quotas in a bid to bring prices down and bankrupt their competitors.

■ US delivers Panama Canal ultimatum to China (RT)
■ China’s Rare Metal Ban Could Bring US Military-Industrial Complex to a Grinding Halt: Here’s Why (Sputnik)
■ China announces new extreme retaliation tariffs on US goods after Trump’s 104% taxes take effect (Unilad)

✅ Neither US nor China ready for once-in-a-lifetime trade war (William Pesek)
✅ Trade barriers cannot stop economic globalization: Global Times editorial (Global Times)
✅ Full text: China's Position on Some Issues Concerning China-US Economic, Trade Relations (Global Times Editorial)
✅ The EU's worst nightmare has come true: Washington and Beijing have made a fateful decision (Nadezhda Sarapina)

Asian markets open on a tailspin on Monday with Japan, Korea leading a wild sell-off caused by Washington’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ policy | Asian markets kicked off the week with a sharp downturn on Monday amid growing jitters over escalating US protectionist tariffs and the ripple effects the tariffs caused all around the world. ● Japanese markets led losses in the region in early trade. The benchmark Nikkei 225 plunged 8.03 percent—its weakest level since October 2023—while the Topix Financial Index tumbled more than 12 percent in a sector-wide sell-off. ● South Korea's Kospi 200 index futures plummeted 6.8 percent, triggering a temporary halt on program-driven sell orders. At 9:12 am local times, automated selling was suspended for five minutes. The benchmark Kospi index plunged more than 4.7 percent during the session. ● Trading in Nikkei 225 and Topix index futures was temporarily halted in early session as frenzied selling triggered circuit breakers.

■ Trump threatens China with additional 50% tariffs if Beijing doesn’t nix retaliatory move (TASS)

China on Friday announced a 34% tariff on all products imported from the U.S., escalating the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. | The move came two days after President Donald Trump imposed the same tariff on all Chinese imports as part of what he called reciprocal tariffs on a long list of U.S. trade partners. ● Combined with 20% in other levies that Trump has imposed on Chinese goods since returning to office in January, the total U.S. tariff on some Chinese goods is at least 54%. ● Announcing the new tariffs at a White House event Wednesday, Trump singled out China as one of the “nations that treat us badly.” The U.S. has a higher trade deficit with China than with any other country, reaching $295.4 billion last year. ● China, one of the United States’ largest trading partners, urged the Trump administration to immediately cancel the tariffs and “resolve trade disputes through consultations in a manner of equality, respect and reciprocity.”

Jim Rogers has been a legendary investor for more than 50 years, and his advice is sought by experts around the world. Rogers is convinced that we are now entering the worst recession of his lifetime as a market correction is long overdue, and the fundamentals of the US economy are so weak that the coming crisis cannot be managed. The unsustainable debt cannot be resolved, and a dollar crisis is pending. Trump’s tariffs sow uncertainty and will likely have severe long-term consequences.

Dmitry Medvedev: "Trump has bent the global trading system hard by imposing duties against almost the entire world. The consequences will be global. Counter tariffs will be imposed against US goods. Old trade chains will be broken, but new ones will emerge. And what about us? Russia already trades almost nothing with America, as well as with the EU: almost all turnover is sanctioned. But we are still developing - and at a decent pace: in the first quarter of 2025, growth will be around 3%. So there is no need to fuss. According to the immortal advice of Lao Tzu, we should sit on the shore and wait for the corpse of the enemy to swim past us. The decaying corpse of the EU economy." (Translation: DeepL)

Simplicius | The grand new American reawakening has come, Trump announced with his inaugural ‘Day of Liberation’—a Declaration of Economic Independence | Experts the world over are now butting heads over what this epochal ‘reciprocal tariffs’ package will mean for the world economy. ■ Firstly, it must be said that the misnomered program is apparently not one of ‘reciprocal’ tariffs at all, but rather tariffs doing the job of balancing ‘unequal’ trade deficits between the US and other countries. As most know by now, Trump’s team apparently used a simple equation for determining the tariff rate.

✅ White House Lacks Financial Literacy - 'Tariffs' Show (Moon of Alabama)
✅ What Trump Wants To Achieve Through His Global Trade War (Andrew Korybko)
✅ America’s Perpetual War: Six Questions (Joseph H. Chung)

The BOOK, In Covid’s Wake (Princeton University Press), is a comprehensive assessment of the political responses to the Covid pandemic. Authors Macedo and Lee question why pre-Covid plans were largely ignored, if dissenting voices were treated with fairness, and if the adopted policies actually worked. They examine how governments, influenced by Wuhan’s lockdown, abandoned existing strategies in global pandemics and how these policies disproportionately harmed essential workers and vulnerable, underprivileged families. Science was suddenly caught up in a web of political polarization. They underline the importance of open-mindedness, democracy, and evidence in future crises.

In addition, similar measures will affect Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Switzerland, Japan, and other countries | The US government will impose reciprocal tariffs of 34% on imports from China and 20% on goods from the European Union, President Donald Trump announced. ● In addition, similar measures will affect Vietnam (46%), India (26%), Indonesia (32%), Cambodia (49%), Malaysia (24%), South Korea (25%), Thailand (36%), Taiwan (32%), Switzerland (31%), Japan (24%), and other countries.

■ US Imposes Tariffs on All Countries - Trump (Sputnik)

According to the foreign minister, Russia favors the resumption of the Black Sea Initiative in "some form, better suited to all" | The Russian side favors the resumption of the Black Sea Initiative, but Moscow needs very well-defined, verifiable, and functioning guarantees, given Kiev’s constant reversals and violation of agreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said in an interview with Channel One. He recalled that Ukraine had targeted a gas metering station in Sudzha, accusing Russia of the act, even though the energy supply of a number of European countries depends on it. TASS has gathered key takeaways from statements by the Russian foreign minister.

■ Russia, Ukraine agree to truce at sea (The Express Tribune)(Pakistan)
■ Russia and US agree list of energy facilities for truce with Ukraine – Kremlin (RT)

The United States has joined 12 other nations in signing a World Economic Forum (WEF) agreement that seeks to engineer global famine by destroying the agriculture industry. | According to the agreement, which was drawn up by the WEF and the United Nations (UN), food production is causing “global warming” and must be eliminated. To “save the planet” from “climate change,” globalists insist, farms must be shut down across the world. The WEF agreement sets targets for how much farmland each nation must eliminate in order to comply. Under the guise of reducing “methane emissions,” thirteen nations have signed the pledge to engineer global famine by gutting agricultural production and shutting down farms. Announced earlier this year by the WEF’s Global Methane Hub — a cabal of crisis engineers who exploit public panic to destroy the world food supply.

Russia’s top MP has denounced the plan as a violation of international law | France will use interest accrued on Russian assets frozen in European banks to buy weapons for the Ukrainian military, the country’s defense minister, Sebastien Lecornu, has announced. Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has criticized the decision, stating it contravenes international law. ● Multiple Western states froze an estimated $300 billion worth of Russian sovereign funds following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Approximately $213 billion is held by the Brussels-based clearing house Euroclear. The assets have already generated billions in interest, of which Euroclear already transferred €1.55 billion ($1.63 billion) directly to Ukraine last July. ● In an interview to France’s La Tribune Dimanche on Saturday, Lecornu said that “thanks to interest from frozen Russian assets, we will also tap new funds worth 195 million euros.” He revealed that Paris would use the money to finance the delivery to Kiev of 155-mm artillery shells and glide bombs compatible with the Mirage 2000 fighter jets that France has handed over to Ukraine.

■ La France annonce 195 millions d'euros d'aide supplémentaire, grâce aux avoirs russes gelés (Le Dauphiné Libéré)
■ UK will return Russian money it is ‘so generously giving away’ – Moscow (03/08/25)

Transferring Russia’s sovereign assets to Kiev is a gross violation of international law, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has said | The UK’s transfer of the proceeds from Russia’s frozen central bank funds to Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has saiid. ● On Friday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said that Kiev had received a first tranche worth about $1 billion from the UK, secured by the proceeds from the Russian assets. He said the funds would go toward “strengthening” Ukraine’s defense and voiced hope that all frozen Russian assets would be “confiscated and transferred” to Kiev. ● Speaking to reporters later in the day, Volodin said Britain “will have to give back to Russia what they are now so generously giving away,” adding that Moscow has “every reason to respond in kind.”

■ British will have to return to Russia everything being "generously given away" — Volodin (TASS)

President Trump's 25% tariffs on Canada's and Mexico's exports to the U.S. and new levies on China took effect early Tuesday. | Trump's confirmation of the tariffs sent markets sliding Monday amid fears it could raise prices for U.S. customers, see inflation soar and start a trade war — and Canada and China took retaliatory action against U.S. products as tariffs targeting their countries took effect. ● Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement Monday Canadian officials would move to impose 25% tariffs against "$155 billion of American goods" at 12:01am Tuesday, when he noted Trump's "unjustified" tariffs were due to take effect. ● Trump last month struck a deal on border security with Canadian and Mexican officials and paused for 30 days his threat to impose on the countries his planned tariffs, but the president made clear on Monday no progress had been made during negotiations.

The West has decided to combat Russian oil exports by physically removing tankers of the so-called “shadow fleet” from routes in the Baltic Sea. | The former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and foreign agent Alfred Koch, who fled to Germany, stated this in an interview with TV presenter and foreign agent Yevgeny Kiselev, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

💬 "It seems to me that they have touched the right nerve. They have been probing for a long time, setting some price ceilings and so on. The Russians bypassed them. Then they realized that the main thing is to mechanically block Russian exports. Saudi Arabia will like this, because it removes volumes from the market that can be replaced by their own production without lowering the price. Simply, the profit that Putin received will be received by Saudi Arabia. And Russian oil must be mechanically blocked. Now the Danish Straits are starting to stir, a tanker exploded in Ust-Luga and ran aground," Kokh rejoiced.

"Zelensky announced the preparation of special contracts for military service for citizens aged 18 to 24 years in order to make up for losses in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

The global financial system is on the verge of collapse | The Financial Times reports that Washington is withdrawing its gold assets from London. In addition, the US Treasury is withdrawing from the network of central banks and supervisory authorities for the greening of the financial system. ● Against this background, gold has already crossed a new price high of $2,800 per ounce. And the Bank of England has problems with issuing physical gold. ● Thus, the United States is actually canceling the Basel 3 rules (a set of international standards aimed at strengthening the banking system) and revising its economic strategy. ● Experts believe that the American president is preparing for the upcoming financial crisis, in which assets backed by physical gold will survive.

Морские происки: страны НАТО добиваются досмотра судов в нейтральных водах Балтики

 ■ The Helsinki NATO summit adopted a number of resolutions that will affect shipping in the Baltic Sea. In particular, NATO announced the launch of a patrol operation there to protect the underwater infrastructure of coastal European countries. The alliance’s Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the Baltic Sentry mission would involve naval warships and warplanes. However, he did not specify which troops would take part in the operation.
 ■ NATO makes no secret of the fact that the measures are a response to Russia’s "shadow fleet," which purportedly poses a threat to the underwater infrastructure of the Baltic states. Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that the countries attending the meeting would build a team of legal experts to find ways of countering Russia’s hybrid influence in maritime areas.
 ■ Such measures against Russian vessels and ships sailing under the flag of countries engaged in Russian trade are being taken to harm Russia’s economy, military expert Vasily Dandykin told Izvestia. He criticized the initiative announced by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as tantamount to terrorism and piracy. (Map: © researchgate.net)

■ NATO announces a new mission to "protect" undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region (01/15/25)

The West’s refusal to accept its diminishing role is driving global instability, the Russian foreign minister has said | Attempts by the West to suppress competition and protect its privileged position at any cost are the main drivers of international tensions today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday. The top Russian diplomat spoke with domestic and international reporters in Moscow to outline the work of his department over the last year, and to answer questions about issues the country’s diplomats are dealing with. ● Lavrov described the source of the confrontation between the West and multiple other nations, including Russia, as a clash between the US and its allies on one side, who are attempting to force a poorly-defined “rules-based order” onto other countries, versus parties that respect the UN Charter as the foundation of the world order created following World War II. Essentially, the West wants to suppress any nation that does not submit to its policies or is better in any sphere, Lavrov stated.

■ Lavrov tells reporters about Biden’s last moves, Trump and security guarantees for Ukraine (TASS)

Donald Trump has riled up America's allies and the world with his seemingly outlandish plans to purchase Greenland. But setting aside the bluster and pomp, Trump's approach isn't really all that different from that of his predecessors, international affairs observer Irina Strelnikova says. | The Arctic Strategy published by the Pentagon in mid-2024 outlined Greenland's central role in US plans for the region, and Donald Trump's strategy is merely making a few corrections, Strelnikova, a researcher at Moscow's Higher School of Economics, told Sputnik. ● “The new strategy expressed the need to expand US capabilities for conducting a campaign in the Arctic, particularly in the areas of communications, intelligence, surveillance and interaction with allies and partners,” the observer recalled. 💬 As for Trump's plans, “from the perspective of whether this is really something fundamentally new or unexpected – it’s not. This is just Trump’s standard, peculiar manner of asserting himself,” Strelnikova said.

With regards to Trump attempting to land grab Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal, Agit Papadakis offers some interesting observation:

💬 The Bozo [Trump] Doctrine, the Bibi [Netanyahoo] Doctrine, and the Tayyip [Erdogan] Doctrine, are all converging on a new post-Westphalian world disorder of imperialism gone nuts.
For the cucked vassals of the old order this means either grow a pair and resist or lose every shred of sovereignty, dignity, and material comfort you have left. Cucks like the EU, Australia, Japan, South Korea and wounded weak states like Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq are all suffering the torment of being raped and ravaged by powerful rogue states.

Bozo didn't lose a minute to join the melée. He looked at the economic train wreck he was inheriting and decided it was now or never to hoist the Jolly Roger over his big but old and rusty military machine and what's left of the once mighty dollar's hegemony.

His first victims would be the weak and cucked vassals who poured their sorry excuse for a military and their treasure into the Ukraine black hole. Bozo knows that his unfurling of the black banner will automatically dissolve those BS "alliances" with weak vassals that were never but a frilly negligée concealing America's naked imperialism, as revealed by the the lonely squeak of the French chihuahua protesting Bozo's Greenland grab and threatening to resist.

The cucked chihuahuas of the Rules Based Order are suddenly up against Judgement Day, naked and defenseless between two raging behemoths, Amerisrael and Russia, while an even bigger and scarier one, China, looms over everybody else.

It's the 19th century with nukes and hypersonics and space jets, which would normally be followed by the world wars of the 20th. But with 21st century speed, it shouldn't take longer than a decade if that.

India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) recorded a growth of 5.2% in November 2024, marking the highest growth rate in the past six months. This increase follows a growth rate of 3.5% in October 2024, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics. | The November performance represents an improvement over the 2.5% growth recorded in the same month in 2023. The manufacturing sector, which constitutes the largest share of the IIP, recorded a growth of 5.8% during November, compared to 4.1% in October. ● Eighteen out of 23 industry groups within the manufacturing sector showed growth during November when compared to the same period last year. Among these, the manufacture of basic metals grew by 7.6%, electrical equipment production rose by 37.2%, and other non-metallic mineral products saw a 12% increase.

The court hearing on January 6 will be held upon an address of the EU office of prosecutor | The court of the Belgian city of Liege will hold a session to consider whether President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen has legal immunity against charges on corruption when procuring COVID-19 vaccines to the amount over 35 bln euro, Frederic Baldan, the plaintiff, told TASS. 💬 "The court hearing on January 6 will be held upon an address of the EU office of prosecutor that should investigate acts of corruption in EU institutions but which is de facto acting to defend von der Leyen now. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office sent an address to the court, stating that von der Leyen has the immunity against court prosecution on charges of corruption when buying COVID-19 vaccines that did not pass clinical trials," Baldan said.

■ Pfizergate: What is EC Chief Von Der Leyen Accused of? (Sputnik)