What the bill will do is to arm the President who has shown preference for using tariffs over sanctions as an economic weapon against America’s foes and friends alike. As a buyer of Russian and Iranian oil, India and China will be the worst affected if Mr Trump goes through with his threat to use the additional tariffs to hit Asia’s two biggest economies. True, Mr Trump may alternatively use threats and actual tariffs, as he did with a 100 per cent sanction on India for buying Russian oil only to withdraw it later because it proved ineffective, to demonstrate flexibility in negotiations. India’s diversification policy after oil from the Gulf was clouded by the Iran war proved successful enough to withstand the energy crisis far better than many nations that lie further east. But it will still be tested if its reliance on Russian oil is clipped as it has been serving a substantial portion of crude imports.