India's economic history suggests Trump tariffs won't lead to reforms

The baseline of Indian reform is a series of slow and half-hearted measures, all the while ensuring that bureaucratic control and the wheels of corruption remain undisturbed

Last week, United States (US) President Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on select Indian exports, and soon escalated it to a threat of 50 per cent, primarily over our continued import of Russian oil. This amounts to punitive sanctions reserved for enemies. Unless reversed quickly, it will deal a hard blow to a few traditional exporters to the US such as garments, leather, and gems and jewellery. The Indian political response has been a predictable mix of defiance and chauvinism, claiming to “safeguard the welfare of farmers, labourers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, exporters, and small businesses.” But