Brussels is trying to harden the EU’s economic backbone before it gets crushed between Washington and Beijing. The new plan the European Commission just unveiled is less about free trade in the old sense and much more about survival in a weaponised global economy.

At the core of the proposal is the creation of an “economic security hub” inside the EU system, meant to act as a nerve centre linking policymakers, regulators and companies. The goal is to spot risks early, coordinate responses and help firms navigate an environment where tariffs, export controls and sanctions are now routine tools of statecraft.

The Trump administration is moving to tear up one of Biden’s core climate tools and re-orient U.S. car policy back toward gasoline, even if it means Americans burn far more fuel and automakers slow-walk electrification. The new proposal from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would radically weaken federal fuel-economy rules for model years 2022-2031.

Instead of steering the fleet toward roughly 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031, NHTSA would now aim for only about 34.5 mpg, with tiny annual increases of just 0.25%–0.5%. On top of that, the agency wants to retrospectively soften the standards for recent model years, making it much easier for companies to show compliance.

India’s extraordinary run of buying cheap Russian crude is about to face a sharp, sanctions-driven correction. After months of elevated inflows, India’s imports of Russian oil are expected to plunge in December to their lowest level in at least three years, as refiners pull back to avoid getting caught on the wrong side of tightening Western measures.

Preliminary lifting plans seen by traders and refiners suggest India will receive only about 600,000 to 650,000 barrels per day of Russian crude next month, less than a third of the roughly 1.87 million barrels per day expected in November.