The contents of this article are written with authoritative materials and personal opinions. The source of the literature has been marked at the end of the article, so please know.
Recently, Trump put forward novel ideas, The high taxes on Chinese goods of up to 500 percent, the money received is all used to support Ukraine.This is not a joke, but a “strategic idea” by U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent.
Besent said Trump had given instructions for him and the U.S. ambassador to the European Union to tell European countries as soon as possible: This “Ukrainian Victory Fund” can be invested in the Ukrainian army with taxes on imports from China.No matter what the European Union wants to call this money, whether it is “punitive tariffs on China” or “Help Ukraine Justice Fund”, the United States supports it.
In order to pave the way for his extreme suggestion, Bescent said, At present, 85 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are willing to authorize Trump to impose the tariffs.As far as legislative technology is concerned, this is not an empty word. It may be a policy that will be promoted.
After listening to the EU, it was as silent as water. A few days later, the European Parliament made a clear statement: not to participate. It's not because I don't want to help Ukraine, but because this move is too costly and unrealistic.
After an assessment within the EU, it was concluded that if we act in accordance with Trump’s proposals, The EU may suffer a supply chain impact of more than 42 billion euros within a year, with core industries such as automobiles, energy, and chemicals suffering.The United States has not provided any compensation mechanism, and it is impossible to impress Europeans solely by relying on political commitments.
So the EU has changed its approach: to accelerate the proposal to freeze and utilize Russian assets to support Ukraine’s basic reconstruction and military spending. Rather than risk blaming China and disrupting the market, it is better to directly use available resources to beat Putin's "pockets".
Trump's abacus is not new. He had already launched a large-scale campaign to increase taxes on Chinese goods in 2018. At that time, the United States implemented phased tariff increases on approximately US$370 billion in imported goods from China, with a ratio of 10% to 25%.
The immediate consequence is rising inflation in the United States. Agricultural exports have dropped sharply, while the supply chain costs of U.S. companies have been rising. According to data from the Pew Research Center,During that round of the trade war, an average U.S. household earns about $800 more a year.
What's even more ironic is that as soon as Biden came to power, he did not cancel all those tariffs, but renewed them many times. But at the same time, multiple rounds of exemption procedures had to be opened.The trade war is endless, and the effect is not good.
Now that Trump is back again, he speaks twice as hard this time. The tariff of 500% on Chinese goods, this voice at first sounds like a thunderstorm, in fact, is only a paper tiger.
There is no framework behind the implementation, there is no coordination of interests behind it, and Europeans understand the gaps behind it.
He also wants to influence the EU with emotional cards, help Ukraine in his mouth, and surround China in his heart. He created the concept of "Ukraine Victory Fund" to allow European countries to help the United States morally, and then justifiably get involved in the economic containment of China.
However, this is not Europe in 2014 or Europe in 2022.This conflict with Russia has caused them to get a dumb but also a bitter head: Don’t always be a strategist.
At a closed-door meeting held in Brussels, several ministers from France, Germany and Italy reached an agreement: all economic measures against China that may deepen geopolitical divisions should be prevented. Don't touch China when there is no concrete signal of military intervention in the situation in Ukraine.In other words, if China doesn't do it, Europe won't help the United States.
Trump, of course, understood it was difficult to do, so he said loudly: "Even if the EU doesn't come together, we will do it ourselves."This is more like saying to domestic voters.
At this moment, the negotiation channel between the United States and China quietly restarted. China and the United States will start a new round of high-level economic and trade talks in the fourth quarter of 2025, and representatives from the United States have begun preparations for preliminary exchanges.
The U.S. Treasury Department also publicly stated that it hopes to reach a "structural fair agreement" with China.On the one hand, calling for 500% tax suppression, and on the other hand, talking quietly, the Trump administration has been following the old routine of "bidding loudly and quietly letting go" towards China. Only this time, even the voice was vain.
This proposal is like a campaign slogan. Trump has always been good at creating conceptual topics. “Buy Greenland,” “Build a border wall,” “Work a new coronavaccination for a few days...” The unsuccessful deal was a tacit agreement between him and his populist supporters.
Just played this time. Because it is not a domestic affair, it involves the big pattern of the central, European and Russian three sides, which will inevitably interfere with market expectations, investor confidence and the stability of international cooperation.
Even Wall Street issued an early warning. JPMorgan Chase's latest report points out that If the United States imposes a 500% tariff on China goods, the global manufacturing industry will experience a chain shock within three months, and the U.S. stock technology sector will retreat by an average of 18%.Before it was implemented, even a single "rumor" could scare the market.
But Trump doesn’t care about this, he has always believed that politics is a battle of public opinion.Now he wants to use the world’s concerned Ukraine issue to fight for more people’s basis for his tough attitude toward China and for the midterm elections in 2026.
It's called not policy, it's politics. However, if you play too many political games, you will fall into your own hands one day.
China has not reacted to the "500% tariff" so far, continuing to explore other markets besides the United States.ASEAN, Africa and the Middle East are receiving a lot of export orders, but China is more tolerant.
As soon as Trump really wants to "true knife" to collect this money, the market may have long been down, and the Americans at the time look back and think about what they finally got.
From "verbal promise" to "global echo", this was originally the inertia path of Trump's foreign economic policy, but now, as the world gradually says "no" to his high-spirited style, the chessboard left for him will shrink smaller and smaller.
reference
The U.S. Treasury Secretary: The U.S. Senate is ready to grant Trump the power to impose tariffs of up to 500% on China 2025-10-16 15:07
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