US pressure tactics on India, China won’t work: Lavrov on Washington’s tariffs

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States has realized that its “pressure tactics” of tariff imposition are unlikely to succeed when it comes to India and China.

He underlined that India and China, as two of the world’s “ancient civilizations”, would not succumb to US pressure tactics, adding that attempts by Washington to use tariffs, coercion, or threats of sanctions to alter their policies were bound to fail.

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“Both China and India are ancient civilisations, and to use this language with them, ‘either stop doing what I don’t like, or I’ll impose tariffs on you’, well, that won’t work, ” he said during an interview to Russia’s Channel..

He said US ultimatums were driving India and China away as trade partners, adding that the tariffs had compelled them to seek new energy markets and resources while forcing them to pay more. Lavrov made the remarks during ‘The Great Game’ programme on Russia’s Channel 1 TV.

Responding to new sanctions on Russia over the military operation in Ukraine, he said that he does not see any problem with the new sanctions imposed on Russia. He said, “Frankly speaking, I don’t see any problem with the new sanctions imposed on Russia. An enormous amount of sanctions, unprecedented for that period, were imposed during US President Donald Trump’s first term.”

“We have started to conclude the situation when the West imposed these sanctions. Later, during former President Joe Biden’s term, sanctions were used as a replacement for any diplomatic effort. There was no search for a compromise,” Lavrov said.

Meanwhile, the US president urged NATO member states to impose collective tariffs of 50-100 percent on China, arguing that such measures were necessary to break Beijing’s ” economic grip” over Russia

President Trump has repeatedly criticised India for purchasing Russian oil, arguing that such trade indirectly supports Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine.

Lavrov’s remarks came after US President Donald Trump and his administration softened their rhetoric toward India, particularly on tariffs and trade disputes that had strained ties recently.