The renewed tariff disputes between the United States and India under Donald Trump’s return to presidency are analysed, situating them within the decline of the Washington Consensus and the emergence of a multipolar order. Trump’s unilateralism signals the weakening of rule-based multilateralism and the anxieties of American hegemony. For India, punitive tariffs pose risks but also open avenues for trade diversification, regional engagement, and a rethinking of non-alignment as a strategy for autonomy and resilience. 

In the context of the sharp decline of the rule-based international order—where personality-driven leadership and populism have emerged as a dominant idiom of global politics—it was hardly surprising that Donald Trump reverted to issuing tariff threats against India. His public characterisation of India as a “dead economy,” delivered in disregard of diplomatic convention, reflects not merely rhetorical excess but a broader pattern of Trumpian unilateralism. While such remarks invite reflection on the state of the Indian economy under the current regime’s acche din rhetoric, their more troubling implication lies in the symbolic disparagement of the Indian diaspora in the United States (US), particularly given its visible mobilisation in support of Trump-era outreach, such as the 2019 “Howdy Modi” event. 

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