New Delhi, May 3 -- A dose of "tough love"-that's how US President Donald Trump described the wave of "reciprocal" tariffs he announced on 2 April against several of America's trading partners. Since then, he has walked back several of these measures, even as he plunged headlong into a full-blown trade war with China. Yet, the tariff regime is expected to disrupt global trade flows, and more immediately stoke inflation and dampen growth in the US.

Trump, who has long argued that the world is taking advantage of the US, had already imposed multiple tariffs during his first term. He began his second term by targeting key neighbours-Canada and Mexico-and on 2 April, dramatically expanded those tariffs to include nearly every trading partner...