New Delhi: “Give the bully an inch [and] he will take a mile,” Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong said on Thursday (August 7), referring to a phone call between China's foreign minister and a senior Brazilian foreign policy aide in which they criticised the Trump administration's recent tariffs.

Xu's remarks come a day after US President Donald Trump ratcheted up his government's tariff on India to 50%, imposing a 25% penalty tariff in response to New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil on top of an identical ‘reciprocal’ levy he had announced last week.

The Indian government called the increased tariff “extremely unfortunate”, “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.

The Chinese ambassador’s post on X also came against the backdrop of outrage from political parties and the public over the imposition of the whopping tariffs on India, a strategic partner of Washington.

There has already been a thawing of ties between New Delhi and Beijing over the last nine months after the end of the military stand-off in eastern Ladakh, with both sides also in talks for a potential visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China by the end of this month.

During the phone call on Wednesday, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, without naming the US, told chief adviser to the Brazilian president on foreign affairs Celso Amorim that the use of tariffs “as a weapon to suppress other countries” is an unpopular and unsustainable move that violates the UN Charter as well as the World Trade Organisation's Rules.

Beijing “firmly supports” Brazil in “resisting the bullying practices of arbitrary tariffs”, Wang told Amorim per the Chinese foreign ministry, and added that Brasilia also has its support in using the BRICS grouping to promote strength and unity among developing countries.

Amorim, who explicitly named Washington in criticising its ‘disruptive’ and ‘intrusive’ tariff against his country, thanked China for its support, per Beijing.

Like India, Brazil too faces a 50% tariff from Washington, so far the highest among the US's trading partners.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had on Wednesday proposed speaking with his fellow leaders of the BRICS grouping, starting with Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, to discuss the possibility of a joint response to Trump's tariffs.

Washington's massive 145% tariff on China stands suspended in light of a truce between the two sides – scheduled to expire on August 12 – meant to allow for negotiations towards a deal.

Trump, who on multiple occasions expressed his displeasure with India for buying Russian oil even as the Kremlin continues its war with Ukraine, has not announced a likewise penalty on Beijing, which is currently the largest buyer of crude from Moscow ahead of New Delhi.

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