Ex-Commerce Secretary Ray Vickery Warns Against Unilateralism After Tariffs on New Delhi, Highlighting Russia Ties and a Critical Void in World Leadership.
Washington D.C. [US]: In the wake of President Donald Trump’s freshly announced 25 percent tariffs and additional penalties on Indian imports, a prominent voice from a previous US administration has stepped forward with sharp criticism. Ray Vickery, formerly the US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development, didn’t mince words on Wednesday, lambasting Trump’s “unilateral and confrontational approach” to trade and issuing a resounding call for India to assert itself as a global democratic leader.
Speaking candidly in an interview with ANI, Vickery described the impending August 1st tariffs as a signature move in the Trump playbook. “This is typical Trump trying to create as much pressure and chaos on a bilateral basis as possible so that he can, in the end, claim victory by solving or at least ameliorating the problem which he’s created,” Vickery asserted. He added, with evident concern, “It is very unfortunate that President Trump is taking this completely transactional bilateral approach.”
Vickery voiced particular alarm over what he sees as Trump’s abandonment of the foundational multilateral trade framework – the very system built on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and continued by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since World War II. Despite the current turbulence, Vickery believes there’s still room for diplomatic maneuver, suggesting that the long-standing negotiations between the two nations were actually quite close to a resolution before this latest move.
“The basic difficulty is the abandonment by President Trump of the multilateral approach to international trade… That having been said, it seems to me that what is going on here is a continued negotiation tactic,” Vickery explained. He recalled earlier discussions during Prime Minister Modi’s initial visits to Washington in the Trump administration, where a Fall timeline for trade agreements had been set. “Trump has moved up a lot of the negotiations and is trying to get this one closed as well. I believe there is no need to panic and that saner heads on both the US and Indian sides can come to an agreement,” he urged, conveying a sense of calm amidst the storm.
A new and significant element in Trump’s latest rhetoric, Vickery pointed out, is the direct linkage of tariffs to India’s energy relationship with Russia. The former official noted this shift in Trump’s posture came after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow’s discounted oil exports to countries like India and China serving as a vital revenue stream to fund its ongoing conflict.
“There are a couple of new elements in this. One is that he has, for the first time, introduced the Russian aspect of the equation… It’s finally gotten through to him that Putin is not his friend and that he isn’t going to respond to anything other than pressure,” Vickery stated. He then emphasized India’s need for strategic foresight: “India will need to consider its interests regarding Russia and the issue of oil imports. India will need to consider its interests more carefully when deciding whether to further open its economy to international competition.”
Vickery further elaborated on the geopolitical implications: “The shift came when Russia invaded Ukraine and in order to provide the wherewithal to continue this sort of imperialistic venture, it cut prices to India and others, particularly to China, in order to keep the revenue flowing. India can take measures with many other sources in regard to oil. And I believe that it is true that India needs to reevaluate its leaders’ leadership position as a great democracy. And as far as I can see, the values that are expressed by authoritarian regimes are not those of India, but it is up to India to decide in the longer run where its interest in being a world leader lies.”
Ultimately, Vickery broadened his perspective, framing the current global landscape as a profound opportunity for India. He passionately urged India, which he described as “a past master” at multilateral engagement, to step into a more prominent leadership role on the world stage, especially given its status as one of the world’s largest democracies.
“There’s an opportunity here for India. The world needs leadership. It doesn’t have it with Donald Trump. Donald Trump is a my-way-or-the-highway sort of guy, and in the medium to long run, that isn’t going to work. India is a past master in many ways of being able to work with others, and it should step forward as one of the world’s leading democracies to fill the void that has been created by President Trump,” Vickery concluded, painting a vivid picture of India’s potential to shape the future of global diplomacy.