US President Donald Trump’s tariff war against India has backfired monumentally. Not only has India embarrassed Trump by stating that it will continue buying Russian oil, exposed US’s hypocrisy and its own profiteering off Russia-Ukraine war but also bolstered its ties with Russia and China. India’s resilience coupled with the unintended consequences of Trump tariffs, particularly, the consolidation of BRICS, has sparked backlash against Trump administration within the US media.
China buys most of Russian oil but faces no tariffs, Trump’s mindless ‘punishment’ to India brought RIC and BRICS together
Ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit, former US Trade Representative, Michael Fronman, appeared on CNBC TV’s show Squawk Box’ and discussed how and why of India’s drift away from China. When asked by anchor about how the US has for decades been trying to keep India away from China, but Trump’s 50 percent tariffs have brought India and China closer, Fronman said that since the Clinton administration, the US has “changed” the nature of Indo-US ties.
“The recent actions on tariffs have very much struck India by surprise to be among the highest tariff countries in the world… This is Modi’s first trip to China in seven years, and it’s a direct reaction to the fact that Us imposed these tariffs. They don’t feel they can rely on the United States as a strategic partner going forward, and they’re exploring their other options with China and the other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization… India’s been wondering why it’s facing a 25 percent tariff because of the oil it is buying from Russia, where China, which buys more oil from Russia, faces no such tariff,” Fronman said.
He added that while India and China have a lot of issues which are not going to get resolved anytime soon, India and China’s recent bonhomie is a “signal to the US and a very important domestic political signal for Modi that they are not going to be taken f or granted by the United States going forward.”
Interestingly, India knows why China gets a pass despite being the biggest buyer of Russian oil. The US cannot afford a discontinuation of the supply of rare earth magnets from China, and fearing that, Trump has on one hand threatened to impose 200 percent tariff if rare earth magnet supply is curbed, on the other, he has also said that the US is interested in bringing in 6 lakh Chinese students.
Pakistan bribed Trump by nominating him for Nobel Peace Prize, India got tariffed not dancing to Trump’s tunes: American podcaster criticises Trump’s ‘bromance’ with Pakistan
Popular American podcaster, ‘Speaknsee’, slammed the European leaders for having failed to reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him the “greatest of all time/G.O.A.T”. The podcaster compared the approval ratings of Western leaders, most of whom having their rating below 50% including Trump with a 45% positive approval rating, with PM Modi’s who has 72% approval rating. He went on to criticise Trump for his ‘bromance’ with Pakistan. He further asserted that Trump should stop daydreaming about Nobel Peace Prize, adding that “there’s no way that a phone call (by Trump) offering a deal can stop something (India-Pakistan conflict) like that magnitude.
The Speaknsee podcaster proceeded to say Pakistan has “bribed” Trump by nominating him for the Nobel prize, while Narendra Modi has never tried to bribe Trump to get things done his way.
Trump administration is a combination of “stupid and desperate” to bring India and China together and is isolating itself
A Dialogue Works discussion on 31st August, featuring American economists Richard D Wolff and Michael Hudson, garnered over 3 lakh views on YouTube. The discussion revolved around White House Trade Adviser, Peter Navarro’s unhinged rants against India, particularly, the one where Navarro called Russia-Ukraine war as “Modi’s war”.
Richard D Wolff called Navarro “not the sharpest knife in the drawer”, asserting that anyone have trade relations with Russia is in some way making money off that trade because that is why trade happens. Wolff pointed out that Russia is having trade with over 100 countries but only India gets singled out and targeted by Navarro.
Calling Navarro’s reasoning “stupid” Wolff said, “On that grounds, there should be an endless war of everybody against everybody because Mr. Mr. Putin would be able to say exactly the same thing about the United States and everybody who trades with the United States. You are providing uh profits for the United States which are taxed and used by the government to kill Russians in Ukraine.”
He went on to say that while Trump administration is blaming PM Modi and India for the Russia-Ukraine war, the war in Ukraine runs through Washington DC, which decided to push NATO to the frontier of Russia. Wolff stressed that in its quest to ‘punish’ the whole world, Canada and Mexico then and India now, the US is isolating itself.
Meanwhile, Michael Hudson also expressed his discontent over Trump’s approach towards India. He highlighted that American foreign political-economic policy has left out the political aspect, while India has not. Both Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have explicitly said that the 50% import tariffs are an attack on India’s sovereignty and freedom to have trade with whichever country it wants. PM Modi refuses Trump’s calls because he knows that Trump would want PM Modi to agree to his terms, which the Indian PM cannot.
Emphasising that since 1945, America has a policy of making other countries dependent on its grain exports to weaponize food and even got regime change operations executed in foreign countries for its own interests, Hudson said that the US want India to open its markets for American food exports. Hudson asserted that PM Modi is not going to comply with Trump’s demand. He added that is impasse has resulted in India’s pivot towards China despite having its own set of issues to resolve with Beijing.
“Trump has performed the act of peace by driving Russia and China together for the next generation. Trump has now driven India together with China and Russia,” he said.
He speculated that while India was earlier seen as the “weakest link” in the BRICS giving India’s vicinity with the US in the technological arena, now with Trump’s failure to grasp the political aspect of the situation, Beijing and New Delhi might join hands to dominate equal halves of the Silicon Valley. He highlighted that PM Modi and the Indian people are nationalistic, and by neglecting this fact, Trump has achieved opposite results from his tariffs against India.
Meanwhile, Wolff opined that Trump is either “desperate” or “stupid” or a “combination of both, to be going after Indian exports and to be bringing together China and India, the two giants of future technology.
American conservative political commentator, Victor Davis Hanson, noted that India and the US have had good relations in the past. India’s geography and its democracy made it an ideal counterweight to a communist autocratic China. Indian immigrants coming to America have also been skilled and law-abiding rich minorities. However, the Indo-US relations nosedived after Donald Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. He highlighted that despite traditionally getting benefits from the US, Trump’s tariffs have made India and China improve relations, while Russia has always been India’s ally. He added that even historically, the US was on the wrong side by supporting an Islamic Pakistan against a democratic India, which Russia backed.
“…my point is that it has strong ties historically with Russia and it’s developing ties with China and it’s pulling away from us (America)…” Hanson said and wondered how it is going to end.
Trump tariffs ruined America’s reputation
The Daily Show put out a video in April this year, with the title “Trump’s Tariffs Ruined America’s Reputation. Does Anyone Still Respect Us?, wherein the anchor discussed how during his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly said that under his leadership, America will be ‘respected again’, however, the reaction of Chinese government and social media, French and Italians, Canadians, Polish, Singaporeans, Germans, Australians, and Britishers, shows that under Trump’s leadership, America has not gained but lost respect.
Trump worries more about Rose Garden patio in the White House than his policies
YouTuber Tim Miller for The Bulwarks criticised Donald Trump over his misplaced priorities as the latter put up a Truth Social post on 31st August, raging against the contractor for allegedly damaged newly installed stonework in the White House Rose Garden. Miller said that Trump’s focus on trivial issues over policy matters amidst speculations around his deteriorating health, raises the question whether Trump is even fit for the job.
Trump’s presidency is in chaos after tariffs struck down
Recently, American YouTuber Mallen Baker, published a video on YouTube, wherein he criticised Trump’s utilisation of tariffs as an economic bludgeon and political punishment weapon against India and Brazil for political, not economic, reasons. He asserted that with the US court saying that Trump exceeded his powers and authorities in slapping these arbitrary tariffs, Trump’s presidency will be left in chaos and invite embarrassment to the US, as all the tariffs will have to be paid back in the court upholds its decision against him.
Besides tariffs, Donald Trump unexpected reneging on his poll promise of releasing the Epstein Files has also triggered discontent among his supporter base. Trump supporter and popular radio show host, Alex Jones has slammed Trump over Epstein Files and also said that MAGA is turning out to be a “cult”.
The damage is done: India will no longer trust America, says Fareed Zakaria on CNN
The seriousness of the strain in Indo-US ties due to Trump’s tariff tirade against India can be understood from the fact that even known Modi detractor, CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria has said that the damage by the Trump administration is beyond repair and India will never trust the US.
Zakaria said two weeks back that Donald Trump’s sudden inexplicable hostility toward India reverses policies pursued under five administrations including his own previous one. “If it holds, this reversal may be the biggest strategic mistake of the Trump presidency so far.”
He highlighted that while India has over the years been cooperating with the US, Trump in his second term, has “undone decades of painstaking effort by American diplomats. He has placed India in the highest category of 12 countries, long with Syria and Myanmar, while placing Pakistan at just 19%and offering joint efforts to look for oil in that country.
Zakaria said that Trump hosted lunch for Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, his family backed firm has done crypto deal with Pakistan’s newly-created National Crypto Council and at the same time, called India’s economy ‘dead’ even as it is thriving. “India had slowly but surely been embracing closer ties with America. No more. Even if Trump reverses course once again,
the damage is done. The country is united in its shock and anger at Trump’s insulting behaviour,” he said.
Indeed, the damage is done. India has a long memory and Indians will never forget Trump’s ‘dead economy’ jibe and the anti-India rhetoric unleashed by his attack dogs Peter Navarro and Scott Bessent, who accused India of profiteering from Russia Ukraine war even as US has profiteered the most, and continue to vilify New Delhi.
Donald Trump was already facing backlash for having backtracked from his promise of releasing the Epstein Files. Now the unintended consequences of his tariffs against India, especially what is said to be the revival of the Russia-India-China troika, consolidation of BRICS and needless antagonization of the only country which has been an effective counterweight to China, has added to his slumping popularity. The American angst against Trump is comprehensible given Trump promised MAGA – ‘Make America Great Again’ but ended up delivering ‘Make Asia Great Again’.
