US President Donald Trump’s tariff decisions might be doing more harm to the US than good, renowned economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs told ANI.In a sharp attack to Trump admin’s tariff policies, he termed these duties as a pressure tactic on New Delhi and warned of risking years of progress in bilateral relations.In an interview with ANI, Sachs further described Trump’s tariff decisions as “bizarre” and “very self-destructive of US foreign policy interests.”“It’s a shocking level of incompetence. I see incompetence in the US government, I’m never surprised, but I’d say that this reached this level that I have to admit actually surprised me,” he remarked, in response to Trump’s move to impose 25% secondary tariffs on Indian goods.“Putting on the surcharge on India, was stupid as could be from any norm. It serves no purpose.”Trump first announced the 25% tariffs in July, even as hopes of an interim trade deal between India and the US were alive. Days later, he doubled them to 50%, citing India’s continued import of Russian oil.Sachs warned that the tariffs could face serious legal hurdles. “…Tariffs are wrong in that they’re destructive for the US economy. It violates international law. It’s a breakdown of our political system in the United States. We have a constitution. We don’t have one-person rule,” he said, pointing to the powers of the US Congress under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.“There’s actually a lawsuit now in the US Appellate Court, which says that Trump has violated the law by imposing these tariffs. There’s a real possibility that Trump’s entire tariff regime will be deemed, as it should be, unconstitutional,” he told ANI.The economist further stressed that both economically and geopolitically, Trump’s tariff policies are “doomed to fail”.
Is Trump really after Russian oil, or something else?Sachs did not hold back in his criticism of the US approach under President Trump.“First, President Trump is being delusional. He thinks he can make demands and that others will accede to it,” he said. According to him, the US has exercised dominant power for so long that it now assumes it can “boss around every other part of the world.”Turning to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Sachs remarked, “Trump thinks he can dictate the terms of peace.” He went further, adding, “This war came about because the US attempted to ban Nato and overthrew a Ukrainian government in 2014 for that purpose of Nato expansion. It is a long term strategy, a reckless and failed one. It should end, but Trump is not politically smart enough or determined enough or brave enough to end this debacle. So he’s beating up, trying to beat up on India.”He also underlined deeper geopolitical tensions. “There is a third part to it,” he noted, “The real animus of the US lies towards Russia, China, India and Brazil and South Africa.”Why does Trump hate BRICS?“They (tariffs) will not improve the US economy. They will isolate the United States geopolitically. They will strengthen the BRICS and other groups…” he said.Highlighting Trump’s attitude towards BRICS, Sachs said, “Trump hates the BRICS. Why? Because they stand up and say to the US, you don’t run the world. The world is multipolar and we want to cooperate with you, but we don’t want you to run the world. President Lula summarized it best. He said, we don’t want an emperor. This is basically the point. Trump thinks he’s an emperor,” he told ANI.India – take a deep breathOn India’s strategy, Sachs praised the government’s calm response. “India’s right. Take a deep breath. Don’t do anything dramatic. Don’t get too vituperative. I personally would do exactly what Prime Minister Modi’s doing. He’s flying to meet with President Xi Jinping. He’s meeting with President Putin. He’s meeting with President Lula.”He further added, “Those are India’s real partners, by the way. Not only is the BRICS the fast-growing part of the world economy, but it’s also the part of the world that says we don’t want an emperor. We want multi-polarity and we want multilateralism.”India-US BTA talksTalks between India and the US on a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) began in March this year, with both sides aiming to finalise the first stage by October-November 2025. Washington has been pushing for greater access to India’s agriculture and dairy markets, sectors that provide livelihoods to millions.Trump, meanwhile, has pressed ahead with a wider tariff policy. On 2 April 2025, he signed an executive order on reciprocal tariffs, imposing duties ranging from 10 to 50% on various trade partners. Although initially kept in abeyance for 90 days, with a 10% baseline tariff, the deadline was extended to 1 August. India was hit with higher tariffs just ahead of the deadline.Responding to developments, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament earlier this month that the government was closely assessing the impact of US tariffs. He said India “will take all necessary steps to safeguard the national interest.”
