Daijiworld Media Network – Washington
Washington, Sep 9: US President Donald Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro has once again triggered a sharp reaction by warning that it “won’t end well” for India if New Delhi refuses to shift its trade policies and continues its oil dealings with Russia. Speaking to Real America’s Voice, Navarro doubled down on his controversial description of India as the “Maharaja of tariffs,” alleging that the country imposes the highest tariffs on US goods compared to any other major economy. He further claimed that India had barely purchased oil from Moscow before the Ukraine conflict, but was now “profiteering” from discounted Russian crude, forcing American taxpayers to bear greater costs in the ongoing conflict.
The comments, which come amid heightened tensions over global trade and energy security, saw Navarro insist that India’s choices place it alongside Russia and China, a move he warned would be dangerous in the long run. He also lashed out at the BRICS alliance, calling its members “vampires” feeding on unfair trade practices at America’s expense and predicted that the bloc would eventually collapse as, according to him, its members “historically hate each other.”
Navarro’s sweeping remarks did not spare China or Brazil either, as he accused Beijing of “colonising” Siberia through mass migration while reminding India of its decades-long border tensions with China, and attacked Brazil’s leadership for dragging its economy “down the tubes” through socialist policies. On Europe, he called for an immediate halt to the purchase of Russian oil and defended Washington’s over 50 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports, describing the situation as “the art of diplomacy” where, he said, people must “trust Trump.”
The trade aide’s aggressive posture came after he was repeatedly fact-checked on X for his statements about India’s Russian oil imports. Instead of retracting, Navarro accused Indian users of orchestrating a campaign against him and interfering in American domestic debates. “India has the largest population in the world and all it can do is manage a few hundred thousand propagandists to jerk around a poll? Too funny,” he wrote, escalating his feud with the platform’s moderation policies. His online poll eventually drew more than 56,000 votes, with 75 per cent of respondents siding with his view.
The latest remarks came soon after the BRICS virtual summit hosted by Brazil, in which External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Observers say Navarro’s fresh attack indicates that India–US trade relations may remain under strain as Washington presses New Delhi to reduce tariffs and scale back oil imports from Moscow.