New Delhi, Aug. 18 -- The US threat to impose tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods marks a sharp escalation in trade tensions and could slow growth in one of the world's fastest-growing economies, Moody's Analytics warned.

The US has increasingly linked tariff relief to conditions that require countries to commit to large-scale purchases of American goods and pledge new investments on US soil. But such promises are "unlikely to be met", Moody's cautioned in its recent report.

"Tariffs are emerging as a general-purpose policy tool (for the US)," the report said, noting that beyond revenue generation, they are being deployed to repatriate critical manufacturing and advance political objectives.

Moody's Analytics pointed to examples, incl...