"Stupidest Tactical Move": Top US Economist Jeffrey Sachs Slams Trump Tariffs On India

US economist Jeffrey Sachs has doubled down on his criticism of the Donald Trump administration's move to impose 50 per cent punitive tariffs on India, calling the American President the great unifier of the BRICS-- a forum for cooperation among a group of leading emerging economies, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In an interview on Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti's Breaking Points show, the renowned US economist called Trump's tariffs "the stupidest tactical move in US foreign policy".

"These tariffs on India are not a strategy; they're sabotage. It's the stupidest tactical move in US foreign policy," he said, as he described how the punitive duties risk sabotaging Washington's relationship with one of its most important partners in Asia. 

‘Lindsey Graham is the worst senator in the US… He's a fool. Just a fool' — Prof. Jeffrey Sachs

He slammed US tariff push on India as the ‘stupidest tactical move in US foreign policy' — saying it only united BRICS

‘Trump was the great unifier of the BRICS' https://t.co/LHC0kRWTq1 pic.twitter.com/rBXRO8B4ev

— RT (@RT_com) August 20, 2025

The Columbia University professor said Trump tariffs could have far-reaching consequences and long-lasting effects, calling them a great "unifier of the BRICS."

"The imposition of the 25 per cent penalty tariff on India, what it did overnight was unify the BRICS countries as never before," he said, pointing to increased coordination under the forum, which worked against US strategic interests.

"Donald Trump was the great unifier of the BRICS. And wonderful. Okay, I like the BRICS, by the way, so I have no problem with that. But the opposite of what Lindsey Graham or Peter Navarro could have been thinking happened," the US economist said. 

Taking aim at South Carolina Senator, he said, "Lindsey Graham is the worst senator in the US. He's a fool. Just a fool."

Sachs, who has acted as an advisor to governments worldwide for decades, also slammed Trump's former trade adviser Navarro, calling him "probably the most incompetent PhD my former department has ever granted."

"He has a PhD in economics but apparently learned nothing," he said. 

The economist noted that by "going after India -  a country that the US has been cultivating for strategic and diplomatic relations- Trump destroyed trust overnight."

"Even if this 25 per cent tariff penalty is removed, the Indians have learned a lesson: You cannot trust the United States," he said, adding that Trump's tariffs failed to achieve any meaningful negotiating advantage but instead strengthened global alliances.

 "Zero practical impact on getting anyone to any negotiating table. Zero. But it completely undermined one strand of US foreign policy built up over the years," Sachs said.