'A tool of compulsion' Trump's tariffs coming at the cost of diplomacy

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump pledged to use tariffs to revitalise American industry, bringing jobs home and helping to make America great again. But more than six months into his administration, experts say the president's trade war is increasingly being wielded as a political cudgel, in lieu of more traditional forms of diplomacy.

- Jonathan Yerushalmy

The president's current target, India, has been unable to reach a trade agreement, and Trump appears ready to follow through with his threat to impose a further 25% tariff on Delhi - bringing the total to 50% - the joint highest levy on any country, along with Brazil. It is a whiplash-inducing turnaround from a few months ago when the newly minted Trump administration seemed intent on continuing a years-long bipartisan effort to deepen ties with India as a geopolitical counterweight to China. It's part of a trend that highlights how tariffs are used as threats against countries perceived to be recalcitrant. Rather than a tool of economic coercion, Trump instead wields tariffs as a political weapon.

Five rounds of trade talks between the two sides have brought India no closer to conceding to US demands that it open up its vast agriculture and dairy sectors. Negotiations planned for early next week have been abruptly called off, as India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, grapples with Trump's demand that India cease to buy oil from Russia, sales that the US says are helping to fuel Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine.