Trump’s tariffs on India ‘backfiring’, says US media

Washington: As US President Donald Trump reiterated his criticism of trade ties with India on Tuesday, American media continues to discuss the implications of the India-US tensions on the country’s economic strategy and foreign policy.

The Wall Street Journal published a short explainer on the impact of US tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, with the headline: “Trump Hiked Tariffs on India as a Penalty for It Buying Russian Oil. Why Is That Backfiring?”

Its analyst Carol Ryan contended that initially the tariffs “spooked” Indian buyers, forcing them to dump sanctioned Russian crude and place orders from the Middle East. However, Russia responded by cutting the price of its oil to “win back its Indian customers”.

She claimed that “New Delhi also gave the green light for the purchases to continue, so flows are returning to normal”.

“The unintended effect of the US crackdown has therefore been to make Russia’s already discounted oil even cheaper for India. As of Friday, a barrel of Urals costs India $1 less than it did before the White House first threatened the higher tariff,” Ryan added.

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, while speaking to journalist Megyn Kelly on her podcast “The Megyn Kelly Show” on Tuesday, criticised the White House Senior Advisor Peter Navarro, saying: “If you do the opposite of what Peter Navarro is saying, then you’re going to do well.”

On the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on India, Shapiro believed that the US has offered “a lot of sticks and not enough carrots”.

While he argued that the “trade relationship with India is not widely important to the United States”, New Delhi’s geopolitical significance should not be understated.

“We do more military exercises with India than we do with NATO. If you see them (India) move into China’s camp, then that will upend the geopolitical order,” he added.

The Economist magazine, in an article on Tuesday, highlighted the SCO Summit and the subsequent military parade in China, calling it “Xi Jinping’s anti-American party”.

It termed the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO Summit as “most striking,” and asserted that it signalled “India’s shift from America towards China”.

IANS