TILL a few years ago, World Trade Organization – abbreviated as WTO – often used to make headlines; now it seldom does. Instead now what makes headlines is the China-US trade war: news of increasing tariffs, counter tariffs and talk increasing protectionism. Recent wave of protectionism first came to the fore during Trump’s election campaign in 2016.Trump had been a strong and vocal supporter of trade barriers since 1980s. Back then, his voice was at variance with the US national policy that propelled free trade and argued against trade barriers. True to his word, once in office, Trump imposed tariffs on solar panels, aluminium and steel, mainly imported from China.

With their vastly divergent views on a billion issues, both Biden and Trump converge on one thing, and that is imposing tariffs on imports from China to reduce the US trade deficit with that country. Both during the Trump and Biden Presidencies, US imposed tariffs on imports from China in successive rounds that escalated the trade war. Now, in their election campaigns, both are showing appetite for imposing more tariffs. Since the end of Second World War, US had been the most enthusiastic advocate of free trade and of lowering trade barriers. Now its enthusiasm is on a retreat.

History always has interesting stuff in its fold. Back in late eighteenth century, it was the Scottish Economist Adam Smith, who........

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