Key Points

In an interview with ANI, he said US President Donald Trump's tariffs are "bizarre" and "very self-destructive of US foreign policy interests."

He said years of hard work in improving US-India relations is being undermined by the Trump administration.

"It's a shocking level of incompetence. I see incompetence in the US government, I'm never surprised, but I'd say that this reached this level that I have to admit actually surprised me," he said, answering a query regarding the Trump administration imposing 25 per cent secondary tariffs on India.

Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods in July, even as there were hopes of an interim India-US trade deal that would have otherwise helped avoid elevated tariffs. A few days later, he imposed another 25 per cent tariff, taking the total to 50 per cent, citing India's continued imports of Russian oil.

Sachs highlighted the legal challenges facing the Trump administration in the wake of tariffs.

"...Tariffs are wrong in that they're destructive for the US economy. It violates international law. It's a breakdown of our political system in the United States. We have a constitution. We don't have one-person rule," he said, while also referring to powers of the Congress under Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution.

"There's actually a lawsuit now in the US Appellate Court, which says that Trump has violated the law by imposing these tariffs. There's a real possibility that Trump's entire tariff regime will be deemed, as it should be, unconstitutional," he added.

The economist said that from an economic point of view as also geopolitical point of view, Trump's policies "are doomed to fail".

"They (tariffs) will not improve the US economy. They will isolate the United States geopolitically. They will strengthen the BRICS and other groups...," Jeffrey Sachs told ANI.

"Trump hates the BRICS. Why? Because they stand up and say to the US, you don't run the world. The world is multipolar and we want to cooperate with you, but we don't want you to run the world. President Lula summarized it best. He said, we don't want an emperor. This is basically the point. Trump thinks he's an emperor," he added.

On India's diplomatic strategy, Sachs praised the government's measured approach.

"India's right. Take a deep breath. Don't do anything dramatic. Don't get too vituperative. I personally would do exactly what Prime Minister Modi's doing. He's flying to meet with President Xi Jinping. He's meeting with President Putin. He's meeting with President Lula. Those are India's real partners, by the way. Not only is the BRICS the fast-growing part of the world economy, but it's also the part of the world that says we don't want an emperor. We want multi-polarity and we want multilateralism," Sachs said.

India and the US initiated talks for a just, balanced, and mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in March this year, aiming to complete the first stage of the Agreement by October-November 2025.

US is keen on greater access to India's sensitive agriculture and dairy sectors, which provide livelihood to a large section of people.

On April 2, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order for reciprocal tariffs on various trade partners, imposing varied tariffs in the range of 10-50 per cent.

He subsequently kept the tariffs in abeyance for 90 days, while imposing a 10 per cent baseline tariff, providing time and space for making trade deals. The deadline was to end on July 9, and the US administration later pushed it to August 1. He announced reciprocal tariffs on India ahead of the deadline.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament earlier this month that the government is examining the impact of tariffs and will take all necessary steps to safeguard the national interest.

- ANI