In announcing a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports into the US ~ along with the threat of further penalties tied to India’s purchase of Russian oil and weapons ~ President Donald Trump has once again blurred the line between economic nationalism and geopolitical coercion. While tariffs are ostensibly trade tools, this latest move is unmistakably a political message: open your markets, fall in line with US strategic interests, or pay the price. Mr Trump has long criticized India’s tariff regime, branding it among the highest in the world and repeatedly highlighting America’s trade deficit with the country. From a purely transactional standpoint, his frustration is understandable. The US runs a deficit of over $45 billion with India, and repeated trade negotiations have made little headway on market access for American agriculture and dairy ~ sectors politically significant in Mr Trump’s domestic calculus.

But context matters. India’s........

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