Russia's strong message to US over Trump tariffs: 'Threats to India, China won't work'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed US tariff threats, asserting that ancient civilizations like India and China will resist ultimatums.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov hit out at the United States's tariff rhetoric, saying “ancient civilisations” like India and China will not bow to ultimatums.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L), US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Trump has doubled import duties on India from 25 to 50 per cent to punish New Delhi for buying oil from Russia. (AFP file)

Speaking at 'The Great Game' programme of Russia's main Channel 1 TV, Sergey Lavrov said US “demands” to halt Russian energy purchases are only forcing nations to “look for new energy markets, new resources, and pay more".

The Russian foreign minister's comments come in the drop of severe criticism by the Donald Trump administration of India for buying oil from Moscow amid the Ukraine-Russia war.

"Both China and India are ancient civilisations, and to use this language with them, 'either stop doing what I don't like, or I will impose tariffs on you well, that won't work," Lavrov said, cautioning Washington that there has been “moral and political” opposition related to the approach chosen by them.

He pointed to the reaction of New Delhi and Beijing to the US demands.

“Besides the fact that this undermines the economic well-being of those countries, it at least creates very serious difficulties for them, forcing them to seek new markets, new sources of energy supplies, (and) forcing them to pay higher prices. But beyond this, and perhaps even more importantly than this, there is a moral and political opposition to this approach,” he added.

Over the past few months, India and the US have been negotiating for an interim trade deal. Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods in July, even as there were hopes of an interim India-US trade deal that would have otherwise helped avoid elevated tariffs.

A few days later, he imposed another 25 per cent tariff, taking the total to 50 per cent, citing India's continued imports of Russian oil. The 50 per cent tariffs came into effect on August 27.

Peter Navarro's attacks on India

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has been attacking India, branding the country the “maharaja of tariffs” and accusing elites of profiteering at the cost of local workers.

In an interview with CNBC International on September 15, Navarro alleged, “Indian refiners were in bed with Russian refiners immediately after the invasion. They make money off us via unfair trade and many workers get screwed. They use that money to buy Russian oil, and Russians use that to buy weapons.”

He added, “India is coming to the table. On the trade side, they have very high tariffs.”

Navarro had earlier raised questions over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying, “Look, the Indian people need to understand what’s going on here. You got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop.”

In a recent interview with Axios, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also criticised India’s tariff regime, remarking, “India brags about having 1.4 billion people but won’t buy even a small amount of American corn,” warning that New Delhi must lower duties or face a “tough time” doing business with the US.

Lavrov on new sanctions on Russia

Responding to a question on new sanctions on Russia, Lavrov said, “Frankly speaking, I don't see any problem.... An enormous amount of sanctions, unprecedented for that period, were imposed during President Donald Trump's first term,” the minister said.

"We have started to draw conclusions from the situation when the West imposed these sanctions. Later, during President Joe Biden's term, sanctions were used as a replacement for any diplomatic effort. There was no search for a compromise," Lavrov added.