Just a day after the United States imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, effective from August 27, former US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan launched a scathing attack on President Donald Trump’s trade war with India, warning that it would impact the decades-long bilateral relationship between Washington and New Delhi and push India towards Beijing.
In The Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller, Sullivan said, “The American brand globally is in the toilet. Look at India. Trump has executed a massive trade offensive against them. Now, India is thinking, shit, we have to go sit down with China to hedge against America.”
He added that for years, Washington had worked to strengthen ties with New Delhi, but Trump’s announced tariffs have strained the relationship, forcing India to “sit with China.”
“Here’s a country we were trying to build a deeper and more sustainable relationship with. Instead, because of these tariffs, India now feels compelled to explore closer engagement with China,” he added.
(Also Read: ‘All Tariffs Will Remain In Effect’: Trump Reacts After US Court Ruling Declaring His Tariffs Mostly ‘Illegal’)
Earlier, President Donald Trump insisted that all tariffs would remain in effect after US federal appeals court has ruled that most of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration is most “illigal”.
“ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT! Today a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end. If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong,” Trump said in a post on truth Social.
Federal appeals court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not give a president the authority to impose tariffs of the kind Trump had introduced earlier this year. In an unsigned opinion, the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision striking down Trump’s tariffs, ANI reported citing CNN.