US renowned economist Richard Wolff has noted a significant change in the global economic landscape, noting that BRICS had surpassed the G7 when it comes to world production with BRICS representing 35% of world GDP and the G7 representing 28%.
Wolff noted that India's move to persist with buying Russian oil in defiance of US pressure marks a change in the balance of power.
"India is today, as the United Nations notes, the world's largest nation. The United States dictating to India is like a mouse punching its fist on an elephant," he said.
Wolff also, in a podcast, mentioned that China has been decreasing US Treasury holdings as US debt rises to $36 trillion. He indicated that if the trend persists, it may cause higher borrowing costs or domestic spending reduction in the US, weakening its overall global influence further.
The economist criticised US tariffs as an ineffective approach that might instead strengthen ties among BRICS countries. “What you’re doing is developing the BRICS to be an ever larger, more integrated and successful economic alternative to the West,” he explained.
Wolff also rejected arguments from the Trump administration that tariffs would bring US manufacturing back to life. "No business which is currently making something in Brazil or China or India is going to make a decision to spend a fortune to bring production back to the United States," he noted, cautioning that the tariffs threaten to isolate American exporters from foreign markets without generating new domestic employment.
The Trump administration recently levied an additional 25% tariff on India, bringing the overall levies to 50%. India has resolutely opposed the move, terming it "unjustified and unfair." Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated that India will not give in to steps that could hurt farmers or small businesses.
While this, PM Modi will be sitting down with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a bilateral meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on Sunday. Modi is visiting China for the first time in seven years.
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