Trump’s New Foreign Policy Tool: Massive Tariffs on Friends of Foes

President Donald Trump is sharpening a new foreign policy tool: the imposition of massive tariffs on the friends of America’s foes. The first major test of this doctrine is a proposal for the US and EU to levy duties of up to 100% on India and China, not for trade violations, but for their economic partnership with Russia. The goal is to indirectly force an end to the war in Ukraine.
This strategy of secondary economic pressure was unveiled during talks with EU officials in Washington. The administration has signaled its readiness to deploy this new tool but has made its use contingent on European cooperation, seeking to build a broad coalition to legitimize and amplify the action.
The move is a direct response to the growing alliance between Moscow, Beijing, and New Delhi, which has been a major source of frustration for the West. The US has already experimented with this policy by imposing a 50% tariff on India. This new plan would represent a full-scale deployment of the strategy.
However, the legality of this new tool is highly questionable. The US Supreme Court is set to rule on the president’s authority to use tariffs in this manner. A decision against the administration would not only blunt this new foreign policy instrument but would also come with a hefty price tag in the form of billions of dollars in refunds.