India, Aug. 9 -- When President Donald Trump announced a unilateral 50% tariff on Indian goods last week, doubling down on an already aggressive 25% baseline, it marked a clear shift in tone. This was no longer about fair trade or market access, rather a punishment. A reaction not to spreadsheets, but to India's refusal to play by Washington's geopolitical expectations, specifically its continued purchase of discounted Russian oil. In issuing those tariffs, Trump signalled that India's right to economic independence ends where America's political agenda begins.

There was a time when such disputes might have gone to the World Trade Organization. But the WTO's appellate body is non-functional, and the multilateral trading system is in disr...