Franklin Roosevelt knew tariffs were the road to ruin. But the UK still has many opportunities to strengthen ties with trade partners like India, writes Lord Mayor Alastair King

For thousands of years, alliances have been built on trade. It drives growth, nurtures jobs, lifts people out of poverty and, as the generation that lived through the Second World War well understood, remains the surest way to protect peace.

Tariffs are the road to ruin

History has taught us that when people lose confidence in previously trusted and dependable flows of trade, they often turn inwards and protectionism reigns. Franklin D Roosevelt famously labelled tariffs “the road to ruin”, and while there’s no need for panic, let’s be clear: as an almost universal rule of thumb, impediments to free trade inflate prices, hurt jobs, hinder growth and make supply chains more sclerotic. In fact, in most instances the costs of tariffs........

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