American economist Richard Wolff has reasoned that Washington's aggressive approach towards India is having the opposite effect, unconsciously driving New Delhi into the arms of BRICS and fortifying the bloc as a counter to Western hegemony. He added that the U.S. is playing the "world's tough guy," yet really only hurting itself.
India is today, in the words of the United Nations, the world's biggest country. The United States dictating to India is like a mouse clouting his fist to an elephant," Wolff said.
The newest flashpoint occurred on Wednesday when Washington imposed 50 percent tariffs on a number of Indian products, nearly doubling the current duty. The action, started by former U.S. President Donald Trump, was designed to punish New Delhi for keeping purchasing Russian oil—a vital source of income for Moscow in the war against Ukraine.
In an interview with Russia Today, Wolff stressed that India will not struggle to shift its exports if the U.S. market closes its doors. "But as Russia discovered another place to purchase its, to sell its energy, India will sell its exports no longer to the United States, but to the rest of the BRICS," he stated.
The BRICS bloc—including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the UAE—aims to counterbalance Western economic power and is busy finding ways to counteract the dollar's global hegemony.
Emphasizing the increasing burden of the bloc, Wolff noted, "If you include China, India, Russia and the BRICS, the combined percentage of global production those nations provide is 35%. The G7 falls to around 28%."
He added yet another warning that Washington's policies are hastening this transformation: "And what you're doing is your hothouse fashion, developing the BRICS to be an ever larger, more integrated and successful economic alternative to the West. We are watching a historic moment."
Trump himself, though, has repeatedly pushed aside BRICS, calling it a "little group" that is "fading out fast." Earlier this year he went so far as to say "BRICS is dead" and threatened to slap 100 percent tariffs if the bloc goes ahead with establishing a common currency, proclaiming, "They can go find another sucker Nation."
Wolff also pointed out that India has had a very strong relationship with the U.S. since Soviet times, and highlighted the dangers of Washington's strategy. "You are dealing with a very different opponent," he warned, before going on, "But for those who have a sense of humour, it will be the farce of the United States being the world's tough guy, because what it really does is shoot itself in the foot."
At the same time, New Delhi condemned the new tariffs as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.
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