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Straits Times
06-08-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
What's a ‘secondary tariff' like the one Trump imposed on India?
On top of an existing 25 per cent levy on goods from India, US President Trump added an additional 25 per cent tariff to penalise India for buying oil from Russia. WASHINGTON – In his second term as US president, Donald Trump has used tariffs as a blanket solution to pursue a wide range of goals: increasing domestic manufacturing and foreign market access, boosting federal revenue, and even punishing the government of Brazil for prosecuting his political ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro. Now he's deployed a tool he calls a 'secondary tariff' in an effort to get countries to distance themselves from US adversaries. On Aug 6, Mr Trump announced that such a tariff on imports from India would take effect in 21 days. On top of an existing 25 per cent levy on goods from India, he added an additional 25 per cent tariff to penalise India for buying oil from Russia. What is Trump's concept of 'secondary tariffs'? The idea behind 'secondary tariffs' is to use a weapon against one country to penalise or try to influence a different country. The concept is similar to the one behind so-called secondary sanctions. How are 'secondary tariffs' and secondary sanctions different? The US uses secondary sanctions to multiply the effect of its primary sanctions on countries or entities. Secondary sanctions target commercial activity involving a party under primary sanctions but occurring outside US legal jurisdiction. They are meant to force companies, banks and individuals to make a tough choice: continue doing business with the sanctioned entity or with the US, but not both. Unlike primary sanctions, which can be enforced by fines and the seizure of US-held assets, secondary sanctions rely on the centrality of the US financial system to the world economy and the widespread use of the dollar as the global reserve currency to work. A company or individual who violates a secondary sanction could be hit by US export controls or be placed on the Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, which would prevent Americans from doing business with it. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Some ageing condos in Singapore struggle with failing infrastructure, inadequate sinking funds World Trump eyes 100% chips tariff, but 0% for US investors like Apple World White House says Trump open to meeting Russia's Putin and Ukraine's Zelensky Singapore MRT track issue causes 5-hour delay; Jeffrey Siow says 'we can and will do better' Singapore ST Explains: What is a track point fault and why does it cause lengthy train disruptions? Singapore ST and Uniqlo launch design contest for Singapore stories T-shirt collection Asia Malaysia plans barrierless toll system modelled after Singapore's ERP Singapore S'pore and Indonesia have discussed jointly developing military training facilities: Chan Chun Sing The 'secondary tariff' Mr Trump announced on imports from India isn't aimed at magnifying the impact of a primary tariff, as the name might suggest. US tariffs on energy from Russia are irrelevant given that such imports were banned in 2022 after the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Instead, the extra 25 per cent tariff on imports from India appears to be aimed at compelling its government to adopt a similar ban, with the larger goal of pushing Russia to stop its war. In March, Mr Trump created a mechanism for imposing tariffs on imports from countries that buy oil from Venezuela, whose regime, he said, poses a threat to US national security. How can the US know who other countries buy oil from? Ships on the water have identifying transponders that allow third parties to track their location in real time via satellite. That enables analysts in and out of government to, for example, follow oil tankers loading in Russia and unloading in India. Bloomberg
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First Post
06-06-2025
- Business
- First Post
US imposes new Iran-related sanctions on 37 individuals and entities, including UAE firms
The sanctions, which target Iranian nationals and some entities in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, were announced as US President Donald Trump's administration is working to get a new nuclear deal with Tehran read more Iran's and US' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken on January 27, 2022. Reuters File The US has issued a new round of Iran-related sanctions targeting 10 individuals and 27 entities, including at least two companies it said were linked to Iran's national tanker company, the US Treasury Department said on Friday. The sanctions, which target Iranian nationals and some entities in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, were announced as US President Donald Trump's administration is working to get a new nuclear deal with Tehran. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added Ace Petrochem FZE, and Moderate General Trading LLC, both registered in the UAE, to its Specially Designated Nationals List, freezing any of their US assets. OFAC said they are both linked to the state-owned National Iranian Tanker Company which is under US sanctions for exporting oil. Talks between Iran and the US that aim to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions have been stuck over disagreements about uranium enrichment. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.