Trump tariffs are increasingly forcing countries to pick sides between the US and China
President Trump’s trade wars are increasingly forcing countries to choose between the US and its main adversaries, China and Russia.
It’s a theme that has been evident for months but has been on heightened display this week, with headlines from India to Mexico underscoring that nations are not necessarily destined to choose the US.
On one side is India, which is now facing 50% US tariffs on an array of goods. Those duties are set to be felt in everything from textiles to solar panels in part due to the country’s continued purchases of Russian oil.
But a US pressure campaign to stop those purchases has, for now at least, clearly pushed India toward US adversaries.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-tariffs-are-increasingly-forcing-countries-to-pick-sides-between-the-us-and-china-161021252.html
India was already closer to Russia than us. Thanks to Doge and the elimination of USAID, China is willing to pick up the slack and will have more influence in the developing world.
But that's what happens when you put trustafarian dilettantes in charge.
= new reply since forum marked as read
President Trump’s repeated claims about having “solved” the India-Pakistan war infuriated Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. And that was only the beginning.
Link to tweet
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/us/politics/trump-modi-india.html?unlocked_article_code=1.iE8.ZUkL.sALtHdC3aNm1&smid=url-share
Mr. Trump had been saying — repeatedly, publicly, exuberantly — that he had “solved” the military conflict between India and Pakistan, a dispute that dates back more than 75 years and is far deeper and more complicated than Mr. Trump was making it out to be.
During a phone call on June 17, Mr. Trump brought it up again, saying how proud he was of ending the military escalation. He mentioned that Pakistan was going to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor for which he had been openly campaigning. The not-so-subtle implication, according to people familiar with the call, was that Mr. Modi should do the same.
The Indian leader bristled. He told Mr. Trump that U.S. involvement had nothing to do with the recent cease-fire. It had been settled directly between India and Pakistan.....
Just weeks after the June phone call, and with trade talks dragging on, Mr. Trump startled India by announcing that imports from the country would be subjected to a tariff of 25 percent. And on Wednesday, he slapped India with an additional 25 percent tariff for buying Russian oil, adding up to a crushing 50 percent.
Mr. Modi, who once called Mr. Trump “a true friend,” was officially on the outs. After telling Mr. Modi that he would travel to India later this year for the Quad summit, Mr. Trump no longer has plans to visit in the fall, according to people familiar with the president’s schedule......
“I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for this, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between India and Pakistan,” Mr. Trump posted. “No, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do.”
trump's desire for a Nobel Peace Prize is sad and has hurt our relations with India. Modi is attending a conference in China right
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