Trump said today: "My relationship with India is very good, and we are doing trade with India. India no longer depends on Russia. India used to import oil from Russia, but at my request, they have significantly reduced their purchases — because we want to end this terrible war that kills 25,000 people a month. My relationship with Prime Minister Modi is very good. I also prevented the war between India and Pakistan... Yesterday, the Pakistani Prime Minister said that President Trump facilitated their ceasefire and saved the lives of 35 million people. I mainly did it through tariffs. I said: 'You can go to war if you want, but you won't be able to do business with the United States anymore, both countries will be taxed 200%.' Then they called me and said that we had already achieved peace."
Comment: Trump strongly defends his tariff policy by emphasizing diplomatic achievements, claiming that he forced India to reduce Russian oil purchases and prevented the India-Pakistan war through tariffs. Essentially, this is weaponizing trade and packaging it as a universal solution for diplomacy. He portrays tariffs as a tool that can both protect American interests and mediate conflicts and influence the international order, trying to prove that "tariffs equal power, and power equals justice."
But the fact is, India has never truly stopped purchasing Russian oil, and the easing of India-Pakistan tensions has nothing to do with tariff threats. The so-called "tariffs saving lives" is more of an exaggerated narrative and self-congratulation. Tariff coercion has never been a tool for peace; it is a means of pressure and extortion. It only intensifies confrontation, tears apart trust, and simplifies international relations into transactions of interests.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1857701085081865/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.