India-China relations: Beijing calls out “bully” US for 50% tariffs on India

Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong has said that Beijing “firmly opposes” Washington’s steep tariffs on Delhi and called for greater co-operation between India and China.

Xu likened the US to a “bully”, saying that it had long benefitted from free trade but was now using tariffs as a “bargaining chip” to demand “exorbitant prices” from other nations.

“US has imposed tariffs of up to 50% on India and even threatened for more. China firmly opposes it. Silence only emboldens the bully,” Xu said on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Trump imposed a 25% penalty on India in addition to 25% tariffs for buying oil and weapons from Russia. The new rate will come into effect on 27 August.

Delhi’s increased imports of cheap Russian crude since the Ukraine war has caused a strain in its ties with the US and impacted negotiations on a trade deal.

India has defended its purchases of Russian oil, arguing that as a major energy importer, it must buy the cheapest available crude to protect millions of poor Indians from rising costs. It has also pointed out that the Biden administration had told India to buy Russian oil to stabilise world energy markets.

In the backdrop of Delhi’s shaky trade relations with Washington, there appears to be a rapid thawing of ties between India and China.

Relations between the neighbours plunged after the 2020 clashes in Galwan in Ladakh. Since then Beijing and Delhi have been gradually working towards normalising ties.

Earlier this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a two-day trip to Delhi during which he said that India and China should view each other as “partners” rather than “adversaries or threats”.

On Thursday, Xu made statements along similar lines while speaking at an event in the Indian capital.

He called the two countries “double engines” of economic growth in Asia and added that unity between India and China benefits the world at large.

He also invited more Indian enterprises to invest in China and added that Beijing hoped that India would provide a “fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment” for the Chinese enterprises in India to benefit the people of both countries.

“At present, tariff wars and trade wars are disrupting the global economic and trade system, power politics and the law of the jungle are prevalent and international rules and order have suffered severe impacts,” he said, alluding to Washington’s tariff measures against India and other countries.

“China will firmly stand with India to uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its core,” he added.

He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit would give “new impetus to China-India relations”.