US President Donald Trump’s latest call for Europe to impose 100 per cent tariffs on China and India represents a sharp escalation in the use of trade as a tool of coercive diplomacy. The demand is not about recalibrating global commerce but about cutting off the lifeline that sustains Russia’s war machine ~ its oil revenues. Both China and India have emerged as significant buyers of Russian crude, cushioning Moscow against the weight of Western sanctions. By weaponising tariffs, Mr Trump hopes to starve Russia of the resources it needs to prolong the war in Ukraine.

The strategy, however, is riddled with contradictions. Washington itself remains entangled in unfinished trade disputes with Delhi, having only recently imposed a sweeping 50 per cent tariff on Indian exports, half of it justified as punishment for India’s dealings with Russia. And yet, even as Mr Trump presses Europe to penalise India, he is personally working to reassure it. Both he and Prime Minister........

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