Trump threatens 50% tariffs if China supplies weapons to Iran

According to The Financial News, Donald Trump, President of the United States of America (US), has ratcheted up pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran after the collapse of peace talks, while at the same time brandishing the threat of a powerful "tariff bombshell" against the People’s Republic of China (China).
This was a direct warning in response to intelligence that China is seeking to take advantage of the temporary cease-fire to provide air-defense systems to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In an interview with Fox News on the 12th (local time), President Trump referred to reports from U.S. intelligence agencies that China is preparing to ship weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran. He said, "I can hardly imagine China would do that, but if they are caught, we will impose a 50% tariff," adding, "That would amount to an enormous sum."
A day earlier, Cable News Network (CNN) quoted anonymous sources as reporting that China is preparing to deliver new man-portable air-defense missiles to the Islamic Republic of Iran within the next few weeks. These weapons were the same type that posed a serious threat to low-flying US aircraft during the six-week war. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Tehran is using the two-week cease-fire that began last Wednesday as an opportunity to replenish its weapons, and that China is considering routing shipments through third countries to conceal their origin.
President Trump combined pressure with a conciliatory gesture. He proposed that China, which depends on Iranian oil, instead purchase crude from the US and from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The US has effectively controlled Venezuelan oil facilities since the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro Moros earlier this year.
President Trump said, "China can send tankers to us, or to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," adding, "We have more than enough supply, and we can probably sell oil at a much lower price than Iran." The move is seen as a strategy that aims both to undercut China’s justification for arming the Islamic Republic of Iran and to choke off Tehran’s financial lifeline entirely.
His renewed mention of a 50% tariff appears to be an attempt to seize the upper hand ahead of next month’s U.S.-China summit with President of China Xi Jinping.
A spokesperson for the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States of America flatly denied the allegation in an official statement, saying, "China has never supplied weapons to any party to the conflict." The spokesperson added, "The US should stop making baseless accusations and work to ease tensions."
However, at a press conference on the 6th, President Trump said that the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle (F-15) fighter jet shot down over Iranian airspace last week "was hit by a heat-seeking man-portable missile." He has continued to suspect that China is behind the new air-defense systems used by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Experts say China is publicly professing neutrality while seeking to cement its role as a close partner of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
As the military and economic alignment of the Iran–Russia–China axis accelerates, next month’s U.S.-China summit is expected to be a critical turning point in this crisis.

jjyoon@fnnews.com Yoon Jae-jun Reporter