CNN’s global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier sharply criticized US President Donald Trump’s latest decision to impose additional tariffs on India, calling them “hypocritical.” The remarks came during a breaking news interruption on CNN, adding another blow to Trump’s foreign policy narrative.
Dozier explained that Washington’s move to raise tariffs on Indian goods by an extra 25%, bringing the total to 50%, was linked to US complaints about India’s continued purchase of Russian crude oil. However, she pointed out that this stance reveals double standards.
According to Dozier:
- The US has not placed similar tariffs on China, despite Beijing importing far more oil from Russia.
- Much of the Russian oil India buys is refined and then resold to the European Union, which itself supports Ukraine.
- If Washington wanted consistency, she argued, the EU should also face economic penalties for indirectly benefiting from Russian oil.
The decision has wider geopolitical implications. Reports suggest the tariffs have nudged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi closer to Beijing. Modi recently attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, his first visit to China in seven years, where Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed him warmly.
Meanwhile, President Trump defended his broader tariff policies, boasting that they bring “trillions of dollars” into the US Treasury. “If we didn’t have tariffs, we would be a very poor nation and we would be taken advantage of by every other nation in the world, friend and foe,” Trump said.
This raises a big question in global politics: Are Trump’s tariffs strengthening America’s economic position, or are they unintentionally pushing traditional partners like India into closer ties with rivals such as China and Russia?
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