Negative disruption

India should avoid an overt reaction to Trump's tariff shocker and fast-track a trade deal with US

- 

DONALD TRUMP'S DARING tariff assault on the world has turned the clock back for the global trade order by several decades. The paradox is that the avowedly disruptive move has come from a country that has long been the steward of "free markets", and at a time when the global economy is facing a prolonged crisis of confidence. For the record, a sharp widening of America's trade gap with the rest of the world (an annual $1.2 trillion according to the latest US data) lies at the root of Trump's move. The US president laments how his country's industrial base has been "devastated" over the last half century owing to "unfair trade practices" by several nations. But the additional tariffs haven't been limited to the countries with which the US runs trade deficits. Trump has shown callous disregard for the Uruguay Round grand bargain that accorded developing countries the right to keep relatively higher "bound tariffs" (reasonable room for tariff hikes, if need be). Countries with low per capita incomes aren't given any reprieve, or the benefit of positive discrimination. Analysts reckon Trump's protectionist policy could do as much damage to the US economy, as to the rest of the world. Many see significant chances of a US recession over the next year o