Trump tariff: US economist Richard Wolff calls US actions against India 'like a mouse hitting an elephant', says it is 'funny, not scary'

Legendary US economist Richard Wolff has warned that the G7 bloc, including the US is no more the world's most powerful economic bloc. Wolff said that the world is witnessing a historic shift in the economic global order with the emergence of BRICS. Speaking in a podcast interview, Economist Richard Wolff said that the BRICS group—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—has overtaken the G7 in terms of global economic output. Wolff said the US is facing serious challenges as countries like China are dumping their holdings of US treasuries. Richard Wolff said the shift shows that the US and its allies now account for a smaller share of global production. “If you take China, India, Russia and the BRICS, the total share of world output those countries produce is 35%. The G7 is down to about 28%,” Wolff noted in a podcast.

India’s Independent stand after Trump Tariff Threats

India has become central in this change. Wolff said New Delhi’s refusal to stop buying Russian oil despite US pressure showed how the balance of power is shifting. “India is now, according to the United Nations, the largest country on earth. The United States telling India what to do is like a mouse hitting his fist to an elephant,” he said.

BRICS as an alternative bloc

The economist added that US actions such as tariffs could push India and other BRICS members closer together. “If you shut off the United States to India by big tariffs, India will have to find other places to sell its exports. What you’re doing is developing the BRICS to be an ever larger, more integrated and successful economic alternative to the West,” he explained.

US debt concerns

Wolff also pointed to America’s rising debt—now around $36 trillion—as a weakness. He said countries such as China are reducing their holdings of US treasuries, raising doubts about how long Washington can rely on foreign lending. If that trend continues, the US may face higher borrowing costs or domestic spending cuts, which could further weaken its global position.

A shifting global order

The Trump administration’s argument that tariffs can revive US manufacturing was also discussed. Wolff disagreed, saying, “No company that is currently manufacturing something in Brazil or China or India is going to make the decision to spend a fortune to move production back to the United States. That makes no sense at all.” He said tariffs risked shutting American exporters out of foreign markets without guaranteeing new domestic jobs.

The economist argued that the US must accept it can no longer dictate terms. “A country with 4.5% of the people of this planet cannot tell the other 95% how to live, what to do, where to go. This is not sustainable and we have to face it,” Wolff said. He added that India’s growing role and BRICS’ larger share of output show that the world is already moving toward a new balance of power.

It's Modi's War: Trump's advisor Peter Navarro on Russia-Ukraine War

Meanwhile, in another attempt to pressurise India, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro criticised India for continuing to import discounted Russian oil, claiming it helps fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, he described the conflict as “Modi’s war,” arguing that India’s actions hurt American workers, businesses, and taxpayers. Navarro said New Delhi was being “arrogant” in defending its sovereign right to buy oil and urged India to “act like the biggest democracy in the world.” He added that tariff relief could follow if India reduced its purchases from Russia.