India, Sept. 16 -- Generally, on the dance floor, it takes two to tango. But the traditional American folk square dance involves more participants. On the even wider floor of tariffs and trade, it is salsa with several dancers. The US President Donald Trump signed orders that imposed a 50 per cent tariff on India "in response to its continued purchase of Russian Federation oil." He took the decision on his own.

However, when it came to doing the same with China, the president invoked support from the European allies. Recently, he urged the NATO nations to take the initiative, which would help the former to pursue a similar action. Even in the case of sanctioning Russia for the nth time, Trump said that Washington was prepared to do so on...