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India, Brazil continue to resist against US tariffs

Global Times

India's illusion that US will treat it with exceptional favor shattered: analyst

By Chu Daye and Liu Caiyu Published: Aug 07, 2025 09:55 PM

Facing US tariffs, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he will not compromise the interests of the country's farmers, while Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he saw no room for direct talks now with US President Donald Trump, according to media reports on Thursday.

Trump's sweeping new tariffs on more than 90 countries around the world came into effect on Thursday. US tariffs on Brazilian goods already jumped to 50 percent on Wednesday and a 50 percent tariff on Indian goods is set to take effect on August 28.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he will not compromise the interests of the country's farmers even if he has to pay a heavy price for it, Reuters reported.

Modi made the remarks after the White House announced that it is imposing an additional 25 percent tariff on India, bringing the total levies against the South Asian country to 50 percent due to the country's purchase of Russian oil.

Without directly referring to the US tariffs or trade talks, Modi said in a function in New Delhi that "For us, our farmers' welfare is supreme," and "India will never compromise on the wellbeing of its farmers, dairy (sector) and fishermen. And I know personally I will have to pay a heavy price for it and I am ready for it. India is ready for it," according to Times of India.

Trade talks between India and the US collapsed after five rounds of negotiations over disagreement on opening India's farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases, according to Reuters.

Song Wei, a professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times that "Judging from US actions, we can tell that the US is pushing global trade protectionism to new heights."

Reacting to Trump's additional tariffs, India's ministry of external affairs said in a statement on Wednesday that it is "extremely unfortunate."

"We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests," it said.

The US' heavy-handed approach to India highlighted the difficulty faced by countries in safeguarding their national interests in the face of trade bullying tactics from the US, Chinese analysts noted.

Xie Chao, an assistant professor of Indian studies at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Thursday that India has long believed that the West has a special need for it and that the US would inevitably treat it with exceptional favor.

"Now, it seems this illusion has been shattered. India comes to realize that the two nations are not in the equal partnership India had previously imagined," Xie said.

Brazil to initiate BRICS conversation

As US tariffs on Brazilian goods jumped to 50 percent on Wednesday, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters in an interview that he saw no room for direct talks now with Trump, which would otherwise likely be a "humiliation."

The Brazilian President said on Wednesday (Brazil time) he would initiate a conversation among the BRICS group of developing nations about how to tackle Trump's tariffs and that he planned to call Modi on Thursday.

"What President Trump is doing is tacit — he wants to dismantle multilateralism, where agreements are made collectively within institutions, and replace it with unilateralism, where he negotiates one-on-one with other countries," Lula said.

"It's important to remember that the BRICS have 10 countries at the G20," he added, referring to the group that gathers 20 of the world's biggest economies, Reuters said.

Brazil requested consultations at the World Trade Organization over the 50 percent tariff imposed by the US against the country that went into effect on Wednesday, the AP reported.

During a phone call with Celso Amorim, chief advisor to the president of Brazil, China's top diplomat Wang Yi stressed on Wednesday that China firmly supports Brazil in defending its right to development and opposing the bullying practices of arbitrary tariffs.

As the largest developing countries in the eastern and western hemispheres respectively, China and Brazil have always supported each other, coordinated closely together, and firmly safeguarded their own legitimate interests as well as the common interests of the Global South countries, Wang said.

In response to the US' placing of an additional 25 percent tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Thursday that China's opposition to the abuse of tariffs is consistent and clear.