New Delhi, April 27 -- When US President Donald Trump imposed his so-called 'retaliatory' tariffs on 2 April, they had been widely anticipated. However, few were prepared for the scale of the tariffs and the way they were calculated. Even as financial markets reacted in panic, some of the immediate response was different from that during similar shocks this century.

Stock returns for each country over 20 days since the eve of the Trump tariff announcements on 1 April show that equities globally were down. The quantum varied. The US and Chinese markets were down sharply. As was the case with the stock market in Vietnam, which has become an alternative to China for companies looking to site factories and supply to the US market. Overall, e...