NEW DELHI -- President Donald Trump all but declared economic war against India on Wednesday, threatening to add a 25% punitive tariff for India’s purchases of Russian oil on top of a 25% tariff he announced last week. In his second term, Trump had been expected to marshal India as a friendly counterweight to the challenge posed by China.

But added together, the 50% tariff paints India as a political enemy, putting it in the company of Brazil, whose leftist president sparred with Trump when the country was threatened with a similarly punishing tariff rate. The crisis between India and the United States suddenly looks much bigger than the terms of trade.

The onslaught against India started July 30, when Trump declared that India’s economy was “dead.” Until that point, his administration h

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