New Delhi, Sept. 8 -- Just before warm words traded by the leaders of India and the US shortened the odds of a trade patch-up, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick predicted India's return to talks. America is the world's biggest consumer, he said, and "the consumer is always right."

This old maxim is often traced to suit-tailoring services, but sounds jarring for an innovative country where Ford delivered mass motorized mobility while people sought faster horses and Apple came up with personal computers without folks asking for it.

The customer may not know enough to invariably be right. And with its 50% tariff against imports from India, the US shuts out the potential benefits of Indian product innovations. That's self-defeating.

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