There are strong reasons why India and the US should have strong trade ties. Each has comparative advantages and they have complementarities that explained the hope that the first trade deal under Trump 2.0 will be with India. But, things went haywire for reasons not related to trade: India’s refusal to engage Trump’s claims on Operation Sindoor and the pressure on him domestically to appear tough on Moscow resulting a 25% secondary tariff for India’s purchase of Russian crude.