NEW DELHI, August 15. /TASS/. The United States has no right to tell India who should be its partner in trade, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Professor Jeffrey Sachs said in an interview with NDTV television, commenting on the decision of Washington to impose extra tariffs on India for buying Russian oil.
“The unilateral US measures are illegal under international law,” Sachs said. I don’t think what Trump’s doing is legal from the point of view of American law, nor do I think it’s legal from the point of view of international law. Nor should the US tell India with whom to trade, nor is the whole premise correct that the US has the right to punish Russia and its partners because of the war in Ukraine,” the economist stressed.
The United States “does not act responsibly towards other countries. Be careful. India should not allow itself to be used by the US, somehow, in the US’s misguided trade war with China,” Sachs noted.
“Don’t rely on them. India needs a diversified base of partners – Russia, China, ASEAN countries, Africa, and not see itself as mainly focusing on the US market, which is going to be unstable, slow-growing and basically protectionist,” the economist cautioned.
Sachs believes US President Donald Trump is “economically illiterate” and a protectionist that will never allow India to enter the global stage from the economic standpoint as China did.
“India, according to some people, was going to become the replacement for China – the US would fight China, and it would welcome India to replace the Chinese supply chains. I said that I regarded that as unrealistic. The US would not allow a major expansion of exports from India any more than it would allow them from China today. I think these events should give pause to Indian officials,” the professor added.
US tariffs
India and the United States started talks on a large-scale trade deal in February after the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington. Both countries seek after doubling the bilateral trade to $500 bln by 2030. The document is expected to be signed this fall. The Indian delegation visited Washington several times to hold talks on this document. The US delegation is expected to arrive in New Delhi on August 24 for the sixth round of talks.
Negotiations are being held amid high trade tariffs set by the Washington administration. The US set extra 25% tariffs for India because it is buying Russian oil. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said such actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.
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