Beijing, Aug 8: Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong on Thursday lashed out at the United States, calling it a “bully” just a day after US President Donald Trump doubled down on tariffs against India, escalating duties to 50 per cent in response to its Russian oil imports.“Give the bully an inch, he will take a mile,” Xu said, pointedly criticizing the White House without naming Trump. Xu backed up his remarks by citing Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who in a recent call with Brazilian presidential advisor Celso Amorim said Trump’s tariff-first strategy was a direct threat to global trade norms.
During the phone call, Wang Yi did not name the United States directly but criticised the use of tariffs “as a weapon to suppress other countries.” He added that such practices “violate the UN Charter and the WTO’s rules,” according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry.
Wang said China “firmly supports” Brazil in “resisting the bullying practices of arbitrary tariffs” and expressed confidence in the BRICS grouping — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — as a platform to strengthen cooperation among developing nations.
In response, Amorim explicitly named Washington while thanking China for its support. He called the US’s tariff actions “disruptive” and “intrusive.”
While India pushed back against the tariff hike, labelling it “extremely unfortunate.” The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also called the move “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”
Brazil, like India, is now facing a 50% US tariff — amongst the highest levied on any American trade partner to date.
Amid the ongoing tussle over tariffs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke over the phone, with the latter revealing that they discussed the “imposition of unilateral tariffs” after Trump slapped a 50 per cent tariff on both countries.
However, India’s official press release made no mention of tariff discussions during PM Modi’s telephonic conversation with Lula.
In response to tariffs imposed by Trump, Lula has been calling for unity among Brics nations. Lula criticised Trump’s actions, stating, “What President Trump is doing is tacit — he wants to dismantle multilateralism.”
Meanwhile, India-China bilateral relations are easing after the resolution of a long-standing military standoff in eastern Ladakh. PM Modi is scheduled to visit Tianjin, China, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit from August 31 to September 1. This will also be his first visit to China since the Galwan Valley clash in 2020. His last visit to China was in 2019.
Ironically, while Trump penalises India and Brazil, Washington’s 145% tariff on Chinese goods remains suspended under a temporary truce. That agreement, aimed at facilitating negotiations between the two superpowers, is set to expire on 12 August.