On July 28, Medvedev had said that Trump should not go down the ‘Sleepy Joe road’ and that any ultimatum on Russia is a “step towards war”…reports Asian Lite News
President Donald Trump has claimed that he did not care about India’s dealing with Russia. Trump further warned that Deputy Chair of the Security Council of Russia and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev should watch his words and not enter dangerous territory.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
On July 28, Medvedev had said that Trump should not go down the ‘Sleepy Joe road’ and that any ultimatum on Russia is a “step towards war”.
In a post on X, he said, “Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10… He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!”
The comments come as on Wednesday (local time), Trump sharply attacked India’s trade barriers and directly targeted its Russian oil purchases and military equipment. He doubled down on his threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Indian imports and threatened an additional “penalty” in response to India’s energy purchases.
Trump’s tariff escalation comes on the heels of a series of deals with major US trading partners that have set a rough baseline for tariffs of between 15 per cent and 20 per cent, and included a series of pledges to expand market access for US products and foreign investment commitments.
Meanwhile, Trump also said that he believes that that the BRICS grouping seeks to counter the US and wants to dent the status of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency as reported by TASS.
“They have BRICS, which is basically a group of countries that are anti the United States, and India is a member of that, if you can believe it,” he told reporters at the White House when discussing the tariffs that he wants to impose on India.
Talking about BRICS, Trump also said, “It’s an attack on the dollar, and we’re not going to let anybody attack the dollar.”
Meanwhile, Indian imports will severely impact India’s gem and jewellery industry, a major contributor to the country’s export economy, highlighted the jewellery manufacturers and exporters.
Rajesh Rokde, Chairman of the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council, said, “The handmade jewellery exports could be hit hard. These products may no longer be accepted or sold there.”
He added that when the US earlier imposed a 10 per cent tariff, nearly 50,000 workers in the industry reportedly were affected.
“Previously, when there was a 10 per cent tariff, around 50 thousand people were suspected to be unemployed. If the same pattern follows with the new tariff hike, more than one lakh people could be impacted this time. Such an outcome would be very unfortunate for the jewellery industry,” Rokde noted.
The new tariffs will come into effect from August 1, Rokde stated, “This is very sad; the tariffs have been increased from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, which will be implemented from August 1”. However, he also shared that this might impact America more than it will impact India.
He stated, “Jewellery from India is exported across the world. In such cases, India had earlier found alternate markets like the European Union and the Middle East.”
As per the data by the Ministry of Commerce, the United States is one of the biggest markets for Indian gems and jewellery, and it exports jewellery worth USD 9.9 billion to the US in the last financial year.
Colin Shah, Managing Director of Kama Jewellery, also expressed concern over the move. “With the US being one of the key export destinations, this will severely impact sectors like gems and jewellery that are heavily dependent on exports,” he said. He added that the industry has already been struggling due to prolonged geopolitical tensions between Russia-Ukraine and the Middle East for over two years.
“With the return of Trump to power, his tariff threats have caused uncertainty in Indian markets. Going ahead, we expect trade activities with the US to remain muted,” he said.
However, industry stakeholders are now looking forward to the sixth round of India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement talks scheduled for the end of August, hoping for a deal or relief when the US counterparts arrive in India.
