'Fully oppose it': China slams US over 50% tariffs on India, pitches ‘dragon-elephant tango’

In a sharp response to Washington’s trade policies, Chinese envoy Xu Feihong on August 21 said Beijing "fully opposes" the US move to impose tariffs of up to 50 percent on India, along with its threat to increase them further.

Speaking at an event at the India International Centre, Feihong said tariff and trade "wars" were disrupting the global economic and trade system. His comments came at a time when India and China have been taking steps to steady their bilateral ties.

"The United States imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on India, and even threatened to impose more. China fully opposes it," he said.

Looking ahead to the upcoming SCO Summit in China, Feihong said his country was willing to work with all parties, including India, to ensure the event highlights "friendship, solidarity, and fruitful outcomes". He added, "Together, we can open a new chapter of a dragon-elephant tango."

On August 19, India and China rolled out a series of measures aimed at building a "stable, cooperative and forward-looking" relationship. These include maintaining peace along the border, reopening frontier trade, boosting investment flows, and resuming direct flights at the earliest.

The moves come amid New Delhi’s growing friction with Washington over US President Donald Trump’s tariff push. Earlier this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leading to a joint document listing the measures.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, said India was "perplexed" by Washington’s stance on New Delhi’s oil imports from Moscow. "Americans have said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilise the world energy market, including buying oil from Russia," he noted, adding that India is not the largest purchaser of Russian oil — China is. He also pointed out that the European Union, not India, is the biggest buyer of LNG.

The US has slapped 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 percent duty on purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levy to 50 percent. Trump has been pressuring India to halt Russian imports, arguing that they fund the war in Ukraine.