Stupidest Tactical Move: Top Economist Jeffrey Sachs Slams Trump Tariffs On India
New Delhi : US economist Jeffrey Sachs blasted Washington’s decision to impose tariffs on India, calling it the stupidest tactical move in US foreign policy. Sachs argued that the tariffs are self-defeating and risk damaging one of America’s most important relationships in Asia.
In an interview on Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti’s Breaking Points show, Sachs said, “These tariffs on India are not strategy, they’re sabotage. The Columbia University professor, who has advised governments worldwide for decades, also took aim at South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. “Lindsey Graham is the worst senator in the US. He’s a fool. Just a fool,” Sachs remarked.
The imposition of the 25% penalty tariff on India what it did overnight was unify the Brics countries as never before, he said, referring to Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. He added that within 24 to 48 hours, there was a flurry of calls among these nations, strengthening ties in a way that worked against US strategic interests. Donald Trump was the great unifier of the Brics. And wonderful. Okay, I like the Brics, by the way, so I have no problem with that. But it was the opposite of what Lindsey Graham conceivably could have been thinking, Sachs said.
Sachs stressed the long-term diplomatic damage the tariffs inflicted on US-India relations. “Going after India – a country that the US has been cultivating for strategic and diplomatic relations – Trump ended it overnight. Because, by the way, even if this 25% tariff penalty is removed, the Indians have learned a lesson: You cannot trust the United States, he said.
Read Also : Judge Frank Caprio, Beloved Star of Caught in Providence, Dies at 88