Donald Trump's tariffs punishment on Russia may emerge as victory for Putin
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Russian markets reacted cautiously to U.S. President Donald Trump 's threat to impose new sanctions, with analysts saying on Wednesday a weaker rouble and higher oil prices as a result of his measures may support the economy in the short term. Trump said on Tuesday the United States would start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia "10 days from today" if Moscow showed no progress toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine. Oil prices gained more than 3 per cent on his remarks. The rouble has dropped 4.3 per cent since July 24 to 81.9 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday.Russia's stock market has fallen by 3.4 per cent since July 24. A weaker rouble boosts export competitiveness by making Russian goods cheaper globally and increases revenue from oil exports priced in dollars. "The uncertainty of new U.S. sanctions will continue to weigh on the sentiment of Russian investors," said Alexei Antonov from Alor brokerage.The rouble has rallied by up to 45 per cent against the dollar this year, thanks to the central bank's tight monetary policy and hopes for easing tensions between Russia and the U.S. after talks held in Saudi Arabia in February.The rouble's appreciation lowered the revenue of Russian commodity firms from oil and gas majors to metals and fertilizer exporters. Such firms make up about 60 per cent of the stock market, which is off-limits to Western investors because of sanctions.Shares in some exporting companies rose after the rouble started sliding, with oil firm Rosneft, Russia's biggest, gaining over 2 per cent since the start of the week, and nickel producer Nornickel rising by over 5 per cent on July 29."Fundamental support for the Russian exporters' stocks is provided by soaring oil prices and a significantly weakened rouble," said BCS brokerage analyst Mikhail Zeltser.The central bank's decision on July 25 to cut its key interest rate as inflation eased also helped the rouble's fall.A weaker rouble will support the state budget, the main target of Trump's measures, by increasing the rouble-denominated value of Russia's energy revenue even if that shrinks due to new sanctions.Energy made up 27 per cent of Russia's state budget revenue in the first half, down from around 30% in 2023 and 2024.Although some weakening of the rouble to around 90 to the dollar is welcomed by the market, a more significant slide towards 100 and beyond is seen as harmful for the economy.Some analysts recalled November 2024, when the rouble weakened sharply after the U.S. imposed new sanctions. The rouble lost 11% between November 22 and November 27.Finam analysts said Russian investors were lining up to buy foreign currency to hedge the risk of falling export revenues in case Trump imposes secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil, such as China and India."In part, the concerns are not unfounded. It was precisely (former U.S. President Joe) Biden's farewell sanctions package at the end of last year that caused the rouble to plummet," Finam analysts wrote in their research note.A1. President of USA is Donald Trump.A2. President of Russia is Vladimir Putin
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Hindustan Times
32 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
‘It will impact states': Karnataka CM after US imposes 25 percent tariff and penalty on India
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The Hindu
32 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Trump administration freezes $339M in UCLA grants and accuses the school of rights violations
The Trump administration is freezing $339 million in research grants to the University of California, Los Angeles, accusing the school of civil rights violations related to antisemitism, affirmative action and women's sports, according to a person familiar with the matter. The federal government has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against private colleges, but this is one of the rare cases in which it has targeted a public university. Several federal agencies notified UCLA this week that they were suspending grants over civil rights concerns, including $240 million from the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, according to the person, who spoke about internal deliberations on the condition of anonymity. The Trump administration recently announced that the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division found UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 'by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.' Last week, Columbia agreed to pay $200 million as part of a settlement to resolve investigations into the government's allegations that the school violated federal antidiscrimination laws. The agreement also restores more than $400 million in research grants. The Trump administration plans to use its deal with Columbia as a template for other universities, with financial penalties that are now seen as an expectation. The National Science Foundation said in a statement that it informed UCLA that it was suspending funding awards because the school isn't in line with the agency's priorities. UCLA's chancellor Julio Frenk called the government's decision 'deeply disappointing.' 'With this decision, hundreds of grants may be lost, adversely affecting the lives and life-changing work of UCLA researchers, faculty and staff," he said in a statement. The Department of Energy said in its letter it found several 'examples of noncompliance' and faulted UCLA for inviting applicants to disclose their race in personal statements and for considering factors including family income and ZIP code. Affirmative action in college admissions was outlawed in California in 1996 and struck down by the Supreme Court in 2023. The letter said the school has taken steps that amount to 'a transparent attempt to engage in race-based admissions in all but name,' disadvantaging white, Jewish and Asian American applicants. It also said UCLA fails to promote an environment free from antisemitism and discriminates against women by allowing transgender women to compete on women's teams. Mr. Frenk said that in its letter, the federal government "claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons' to freeze the funding, but 'this far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination.' Earlier this week, UCLA reached a $6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor who sued the university, arguing it violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters in 2024 to block their access to classes and other areas on campus. UCLA initially had argued that it had no legal responsibility over the issue because protesters, not the university, blocked Jewish students' access to some areas. The university also worked with law enforcement to thwart attempts to set up new protest camps. The university has said that it's committed to campus safety and inclusivity and will continue to implement recommendations.
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Business Standard
32 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Best of BS Opinion: India must not bend the knee before Trump's tariffs
Hello, and welcome to the Best of BS Opinion, our distilled wrap of today's Opinion page. Our lead columnist Shyam Saran makes a forceful case for standing up to the United States' geopolitical arm-twisting using tariffs as leverage. Not resisting now will lead to bigger demands in the future, he warns, and could had long-term consequences for India's national security, credibility, and influence. There will certainly be a price to pay, and India should be prepared, not by closing off its economy but by making it more outward-looking. As it is, the US' tariffs will only have a modest impact on India's GDP, a price the country should be willing to pay. In fact, he says, India should follow its Look East policy more vigorously because that region wants India to be a counterweight to China. It should also become part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, where currently neither China nor the US is present. Insulating the nation from the vagaries of Trump's policies may be best served by this initiative, he says. It is not easy steering Indian democracy in live action: witness the often-raucuous scenes that play out on our screens when Parliament is in session. Yet, it is a role that Harivansh Narayan Singh has in the past played to near-perfection, writes Aditi Phadnis. As deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, he was unerringly fair, always putting principle over party. It also helped that he was unfailingly polite. A former journalist who is credited with the turnaround of Bihar Prabhat, his politics hewed close to former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, who was a major political influence in his life. With the Vice President's position falling empty with Jagdeep Dhankhar's abrupt resignation, political circles are abuzz with names of likely candidates for the second-highest position in the republic. It is no surprise that Singh's name is among them - a win would redefine his political career. India, and the rest of the world, is trying to figure Donald Trump out so as to survive him until the midterm elections in the US two years from now. Before that, India must look find ways to protect itself from his monumental irrationality. But first, we must also look within at the bipolarity within the Indian 'establishment' - which encompasses government and its multi-faceted support base, including social media and TV studio experts, write Shekhar Gupta. From being euphoric about our closeness to the US and India finally gaining its rightful place at the world table, the Indian establishment is now reverting to Cold War-level suspicion of Uncle Sam and playing hurt victim. The other element of bipolarity exists within the establishment itself, he points out: even as the Prime Minister and others are acting quietly and prudently, working the levers behind the stage, the support base is the exact opposite, in a constant state of anger and hurt. There is something about nostalgia that makes us want to revisit the past, no matter how long ago. We all go back at least once to our school or college or hostel, just to soak in our memories one more time. The recent box-office success of Indian movies upon a re-release seems to prove that point. Sandeep Goyal pulls on that thread and wonders if a rerun of brand campaigns that have had a successful first innings would work the second time around. Recalling some of India's most iconic ad campaigns - Gold Spot's 'The Zing Thing', Parle's 'Melody itni chocolatey kaise bani', and Tata Sky's 'Isko laga daala to life jhinga-la-la, to name just a few - he bats for a second coming of such memorable ads. There are caveats, though: Tinkering with the original might backfire spectacularly, as Cadbury's gender-reversed re-run of Dairy Milk showed. Chintan Girish Modi, pens a heartfelt ode - ironically, in prose - to the legendary Eunice de Souza, poet extraordinaire and teacher at the equally famous St Xavier's College in Mumbai. August 1, when this column was written, is also de Souza's birthday and is commemorated by the college as Poetry Day, a rare incidence of anyone celebrating either a poet or a teacher, or as in this case, both. Modi recites parts of her poems, and is struck by her distinctive voice, and even more by her freedom with - and within - the language, unencumbered by the need for obscure allusions and pretentious references.
