Aug 31 (Lagos) - President Trump has pushed his former friends into corners they would not have imagined when he was re-elected and assumed office in January of this year. Friendly countries like Canada and India have been pushed so far that they are aligning themselves with China in order to make up for the losses being caused by the tariffs imposed by the USA.
Canadian PM was left out of the recent meeting of the G7 members at the White House where the Russia-Ukraine conflict was discussed. Also the President has revoked a treaty that allowed packages of low value to exported between US-Canada duty free. Now with new tariff on those parcels, businesses in Canada are declaring bankruptcies.
The situation with India is far more grave. Aides of President Trump have started blaming the Russia-Ukraine war on India's PM Modi because India has been buying crude oil from Russia at a cheaper price (must less than China and EU) and they look foolish in shifting blame to third party country when it is actually the US that has been actively funding the war by supplying weapons to Ukraine to carry on the war. Apart from this, President Trump also imposed a 25% tariff on India and also tried to take credit for a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following a brief war earlier this year which was sparked by the brutal killings of Indians in Kashmir province of India by terrorists from neighboring Pakistan.
India's PM Modi has responded by increasing imports of Russian crude oil and he has also travelled to China and Japan last week to re-start relations with China which were in the cold for the past 5 years. A German newspaper recently reported that PM Modi had not been taking phone calls from President Trump after President Trump called India's economy a 'dead economy' while India's economy is the fastest growing major world economy today.
The mood in these two countries has also started to shift against the US. These two countries are democracies that follow and love the American way of life and business and are very receptive of American products and culture. However that has started changing. In Canada, supermarkets clearly label American made products to help its people choose Canadian made products over American ones, a move unthinkable just last year. In India, a university recently banned American products from its campus as a way to protest against the tariffs. If such moves gain momentum, it could lead to big time rebellion against American products and culture.
It is high time President Trump make amends and bring friends back to the table. Can America be great without support of other democracies? Will it be worth it?