Tariffs imposed by the U.S. government—whether on India, Switzerland, or any other state—represent a fundamental assault on the voluntary exchange that is the basis of prosperity. When Trump raises tariffs on India because of its energy decisions, he is not defending “free trade” or American interests; he is simply wielding arbitrary power, distorting prices, and restricting the natural flow of goods that emerges from countless free choices by individuals and firms. Hayek warned that when bureaucrats override the spontaneous order of the market, they turn back the clock on civilization. Tariffs are not just misguided—they are violent interventions in the intricate fabric of human cooperation.

It’s absurd to moralize about India’s purchases of Russian oil, as if trade were a tool of foreign policy rather than a means for people to better their lives. If Americans want to punish Russia, let them boycott Russian goods. But to threaten India, or any nation, for pursuing its own commercial interests is to demand obedience not to principle, but to the arbitrary whims of American rulers. Robert Nozick would have balked at such a monstrous overreach; the minimal state has no authority to dictate the contents of anyone’s shopping cart. Trade is not a lever for political manipulation; it is the birthright of free men.

The Swiss, the Germans, the Indians: all are victims of the same statist disease—the illusion that economies are chessboards, with politicians moving pawns. If Switzerland or India finds profit trading with the U.S. or with Russia, that is their absolute right—no American president, bureaucrat, or regulator should presume to interfere. When the state inserts tariffs, quotas, or special deals, it abolishes equality before the law, favoring those who strike bargains in smoky rooms while ordinary traders are fleeced.

Ayn Rand would have called this what it is: sanctioned looting. Tariffs are loot stolen from consumers and producers alike, erased with the stroke of a pen for political expediency, not for any grand moral cause. When other states, like the EU, run to negotiate for “equal treatment” or “exemptions,” they are not negotiating free trade but begging for less punishment. Every moment invested in these negotiations is a moment surrendered to the central planners' delusion that prosperity and fairness can be engineered from the top down.

The economy doesn’t need “stability” or “certainty” imposed by political deals; it needs for politicians to get out of the way. Let every individual choose, trade, and negotiate as they see fit, without tariffs, quotas, restrictions, or permission slips from the state. The only freedom that matters is the freedom to make peaceful exchanges without fear of arbitrary reprisal from any government, foreign or domestic. End the tariffs, break the power of the state over trade, and return to the only system compatible with human dignity: laissez-faire capitalism.