Sounds like a scrappage scheme.
1 Like
It’s a shame (especially for Musk apparently) that the white supremacists no longer hold sway in SA. You could stick water cannons on them and sell them as a job lot.
The sad thing for SA is that the ANC and the derivatives are pretty corrupt shit though.
1 Like
Modi and his party might be more predisposed to the US admin but expecting India to cut all ties with Russia is preposterous by Trump. If that happens and Modi does buckle down to the demand, the opposition will have a field day there.
India has sizable Russian ties which exist far beyond oil and gas.
And won’t go down well at all. If anything, this will push India further into the BRICS ambit and kills any hope of QUAD being a viable anti China force.
Which if you think about it is fine by me going as how US is approaching ties with its friends.
3 Likes
Quite a lot of items exempted from tariffs as well.
Hmm. Wonder if India should just stop Pharma exports to USA. Pretty sure other countries do need the drugs too.
1 Like
Given that it seems Despot Donnie is setting out to be friendless in the world except Tel Aviv.
Now he wants to unload someone who has been in the US forever onto Australia and the poor bugger doesn’t know where Oz is.
Trump continuing to do what he wants and stuff everyone including that poor sod.
2 Likes
And I see news about Japan being subjected to tariffs too.
What the fuck is this tinpot dictatorship over there people
Sounds like 1788 all over again
It is somewhat interesting that relations with the Biden administration were a little more distant than Trump began with, yet this has so quickly spiraled into a fundamental lack of respect for India.
1 Like
Yesterday’s auction of 10-year Treasury debt was not a disaster, but there are definitely worrisome signs for the US. Weaker than expected, and there was a massive reduction in buyer interested from outside the US (last auction placed 88% of the funds in foreign buyers, this was down to 64%). Yield went up, and the bid-to-cover ratio was well below recent averages. There were some shaky covid era auctions with worse results, but this one looks more like those than the norm of the last 3 years.
The result is upward pressure on the interest rate, precisely when the other indicators were suggesting some downward pressure. The sheer amount of debt the US has to buy over the next 4 months is a significant constraint. The Fed’s path forward is becoming more complicated by the day.
2 Likes
https://x.com/NOELreports/status/1953412660344627371
https://x.com/ABarbashin/status/1953399692072534104
https://x.com/shaunwalker7/status/1953370604180054341
It’s so awful to be right about this all time 
1 Like
No idea if true but I saw a social media post saying Trump has taco’d on the deal already. Hes demanding some outrageous financial gift to the US to invest in their choosing.
1 Like
If only for the fact that the defacto head of Pakistan endorsed Trump for the peace prize
https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1953556788378308680
This should have been done in 2022, 2023 at the latest. But it should have targeted everyone, not just India. But India is the most grivious sinner of course, directly fighting against RU sanctions and exploting Russia’s genocidal invasion like no other apart from China.
But it is absurd that the tariffs are not placed also on everyone; which makes it hypocritcal and therefore politically damaging (though it will cost Russia, as India will likely import a bit less oil from Russia).
As for the decrease in arms import from Russia, that is principally due to logistics bottles in Russia and the need for said weapons locally, which has made delivery very difficult for RU.
But these sanctions should have targeted everyone, if indeed aiding Ukraine was the main goal (strong doubt). Even so, it’s hardly displeasing as it will likely cause some pain for Russia by proxy, thus increasing the cost of their campaign in Ukraine, which is what ought to truly matter for the West. But this should have been done in 2022 and it’s hardly fair that this is so arbitrary. But shrugs.
1 Like
Isn’t the point of India’s purchase agreement that they’re getting it at rock bottom price and so done with US approval because it was drastically limiting the revenue Russia could get from a finite resource?
1 Like
Yes, it was (though RU oil prices are not at rock bottom, just a bit cheaper; as oil is still priced much too high to force rapid collapse in the Russian economy, as Ru still earns too much from sales and have yet to use up their “Rainy Day Fund” because of it). This is why it is so fucking arbitrary. Because previously, the US didn’t mind this (but we are very many who strongly disagreed with the weak Biden admin regarding truly harmful sanctions on RU and those who buy from RU, because winning the war and avoiding particion of Ukraine, ought to be priority number 1, after all).
After all, the entire point with sanctions is to force a state to change it’s calculus. To do so with Russia, is costly and would require a hell of a lot more than this. But even so, I’m not going to cry given India’s political support for Russia. I just hope we get secondary sanctions that targets everyone , not just India.
1 Like
Of course, another serious problem is that if you take Russian oil out of the global market, oil prices will rise significantly. This isn’t thought through as such.There is no deal with OPEC in tandem with this. So sigh…