Don’t think navarro gave him correct advice on hitting india with 50% tariffs for something lots of other countries are doing... but not punishing any of them.
If they are lost to china maybe a 50% tariff nuke pushed them there very hard.
WE should not wish to add India to the Axis of Evil. No need to make our enemies stronger. Lots of Indians have good reason to dislike the West and see Russia as their “friend” just as many Egyptians saw Nazi Germany as a natural ally.
Trump’s secondary sanctions could turn out to be a huge miscalculation, with serious long term implications for all of us.
Navarro did not make the decision.
Modi (through Indian oligarchs) is buying Russian oil for half price.
The oligarchs then sell it on the international market for full price, and split the profit with the Indian government.
The punitive 50% tariffs are Trump's way of saying that India must stop buying Russian oil, and that India must open up its economy to currently banned USA products.
We are number 1 militarily for now, and we are very powerful economically, but we are no longer the unrivaled number 1 economically.
In 1960 we were alone >40% of the Worlds GDP. Today we’re like 22%. We do not carry the weight we once did.
China has already passed us up in many aspects: manufacturing they are twice our size (like 200%, no kidding!), in PPP, steel, electric, aluminum, glass, car production.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_motor_vehicle_production (they produce 3 cars for every 1 car produced in the US).
We flexed our muscle with Russia, tried to coerce folks regards BRICS, but what we really did was push folks towards China.
I’m afraid even Brazil is lost at this point. No kidding.
I was talking elsewhere with someone that tried to tell me how I shouldn’t bring China into the Ukraine war issue. That’s funny!
Biden and his idiotic proxy war with Russia, caused BRICS to expand massively in members and power, it gave China a huge economic boost as they filled the void when Western manufactures packed up and left Russia. Within BRICS China has assumed the leadership role, even though Russia is the mastermind behind it. Even China’s war machine has benefitted from this enormously both technologically and in terms of production. India on the fence before, chose Russia and China.
The Ukraine conflict is in every way about China in the bigger picture. The sanctions on Russia largely didn’t work because of China. Example: https://www.ajot.com/images/uploads/article/China_car_chart.png Clothing, cell phones, computers... all that happened is that Russia today is filled with “made in China.”
Meanwhile you still have some morons dreaming of an impending Chinese economic bubble bursting (that’s a dream that gets recycled constantly in conservative news - wishful thinking) and the sanctions bringing down Russia. LOL
I give it 10 years. By then China will even have achieved nuclear parity and will be outspending us for war: https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/teaser/30173.jpeg They already have more manpower and are close to us in military spending in actuality: https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/China-Military-Budget-Graphic.png?x85095
In 10 years, we will be confronted with China breathing down our neck like we are breathing down Russia’s today.
We will have to make a choice, do we ultimately go to war to retain our empire, or begin the slow decline as we get displaced from the Pacific Rim, Middle East, and Africa? Do we go MOSTLY peacefully into the night like the UK did post WWII, or fighting like Russia is today?
Again, the same situation Russia finds themselves in today as we gobble them up in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Venezuela, even along their border in Ukraine, Republic of Georgia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia we will find ourselves in with China.
While Russia is weaker, an older empire in decline, they have a massive defense infrastructure and technological base and that will likely back up China on the way forward (they were built up as a world super-power).
I have a suspicious feeling that China in a few years will dominate our news and political discussion.
Do you really think India isn’t seeing the handwriting on the wall?
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I hope I’m reading more into things than there really is. I really hope I’m just finding those facts that substantiate my predisposed belief (validation error). But as I see things, Ukraine set things in motion regards Russia and China moving closer, India choosing sides, BRICS massively expanding in scope and members, China getting a major economic and military boost. IMHO, Biden was/is a senile old idiot that was a useful tool for anyone that could pay. That man has led us into very dangerous waters long term, even though some think we weakened Russia (which we surely did).
