India, Jan. 25 -- The foundational purpose of trade agreements is not tariff liberalisation per se, but intertemporal commitment. In standard models of international trade policy, governments face a time-inconsistency problem. Ex ante, they prefer low tariffs to attract investment, embed supply chains, and reap efficiency gains. Ex post, once factors are sunk, domestic political incentives tilt towards protection. Trade agreements exist to bind governments against this temptation, lowering policy uncertainty and risk premia even when enforcement is imperfect. The Greenland episode suggests that, under Donald Trump's presidency, this commitment function has collapsed. What is at stake is not a single dispute or even a particular tariff rat...