US economist Jeffrey Sachs says tariffs on India unify BRICS never before ‘stupidest tactical moves’

By Anjali Sharma

WASHINGTON- US economist Jeffrey Sachs on Friday criticized US President Donald Trump over imposing steep tariffs on India and said that the move by President Trump will unify BRICS like “never before”.

“These tariffs on India are not a strategy; they’re sabotage. It’s the stupidest tactical move in US foreign policy,” he said while adding that the tariffs are sabotaging Washington’s relationship with one of its most important partners in Asia.

He highlighted the enhanced collaboration under BRICS, he stated, “The imposition of the 25 per cent penalty tariff on India, what it did overnight was unify the BRICS countries as never before.”

“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 the opposite of what Lindsey Graham or Peter Navarro could have been thinking happened,” the US economist said.

Sachs slammed Trump’s former trade adviser Navarro, calling him “probably the most incompetent PhD my former department has ever granted.”

“He has a PhD in economics but apparently learned nothing,” he said.

Sachs noted that by “going after India – a country that the US has been cultivating for strategic and diplomatic relations- Trump destroyed trust overnight.”

“Even if this 25 per cent tariff penalty is removed, the Indians have learned a lesson: You cannot trust the United States,” he said.

He added that Trump’s tariffs failed to achieve any meaningful negotiating advantage but instead strengthened global alliances.

“Zero practical impact on getting anyone to any negotiating table. Zero. But it completely undermined one strand of US foreign policy built up over the years,” Sachs added.