At this current juncture, India is the most tariffed nation in the world, thanks to United States President Donald Trump’s misplaced fascination for import tariffs as the one-shot solution to all real and imagined problems with the American economy.How did this situation arise? Why is Trump indiscriminately slapping tariffs on countries around the world? Are his actions legal? Why aren’t other countries tariffing the US in retaliation? Is the US winning this tariff war? When will the tariff chaos end?Over the past six months, The Indian Express has sought to explain several aspects of this unfolding story. Here are some of the key issues that have been covered.Why do countries impose tariffs on one another?Tariffs are taxes levied on goods that are imported (brought into) a country. They are imposed by the government of the importing country — in this case the US government — and paid by the consumers of that country — in this case the Americans.It is often said that economists don’t agree on anything. On tariffs, however, there is a fairly wide-ranging consensus. It is that tariffs are a bad policy choice.Arguing against tariffs, Nobel-prize winning US economist Milton Friedman had once quoted Henry George, the 19th century American economist and journalist, thus:“In times of war, we blockade our enemies in order to prevent them from getting goods from us. In time of peace, we do to ourselves by tariffs what we do to our enemies in time of war.”Story continues below this adTrump, however, believes — incorrectly — that tariffs are paid by the other governments. Since his understanding is exactly opposite to reality, it is hardly surprising that his policy choice is to impose tariffs freely.What makes Trump’s tariff approach even more bizarre is that he treats the US — which is the biggest economy by a country-mile (it is around 7-8 times the size of economies such as Germany, Japan and India) — as a victim of international trade, while viewing much smaller economies as the perpetrators of fraud on America. As such, he not only imposes tariffs, but does so on a “reciprocal” basis.Also Read | Trump’s 50% tariffs kick in today, export of textiles, gems and jewellery worst hitEven that may sound like a fair arrangement — even though it is not fair or even reasonable to treat the world’s biggest economy and a tiny African economy on an equal footing — but in Trump’s view reciprocal tariffs do not mean that each country has the same rate against each other.In his conception, a reciprocal tariff necessarily means a tariff rate at which the US stops having a trade deficit with the other country. A deficit means the US imports more than it exports to a particular country. But imagine the US importing diamonds from a poor African country and then penalising it because that poor country’s people did not spend all their export earnings to buy US goods like iPhones or gas-guzzling trucks!Story continues below this adWe published four explainers setting the context for Trump’s tariffs.1. We explained what reciprocal tariffs are, and how they are different from the global norms of the past.2. We explained how reciprocal tariffs were being calculated, and what the policy implications of this were.3. We looked at why Trump loves tariffs, and why he should not actually be doing so.4. We tried to explain the economics of Donald Trump.Story continues below this adAre the steps that Trump has been taking, legal?It is a moot question, and both politicians and commentators in the US are divided. The answer is unclear as of now.However, the fact is that imposing tariffs is the job of the US Congress. Trump has declared an Emergency and assumed extraordinary powers. His executive orders will be challenged, and legally scrutinised at some point. A few answers may emerge then.Why aren’t other countries tariffing the US?US tariffs are making things difficult for exporters of each country. But by imposing tariffs on the US goods they are importing, other countries will make things bad for their own consumers as well.The fact is, counter-tariffs aren’t always the best policy choice, especially among those countries that are highly unevenly matched in economic terms.Story continues below this adIs Donald Trump winning this war? And is the US winning too?Trump insists that he is winning.The President has now been in the White House for more than seven months, but he has blamed the previous Joe Biden administration every time official data have turned negative. However, every time data have surprised on the upside, he has accepted them as Trump data.The President has also gone after key officials — firing, for example, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the beginning of this month. That has been described as shooting the messenger.Overall, the outlook for the US does not look good. We explained how the US economy is hurting, thanks to Trump’s tariffs.Story continues below this adThe worst affected by the tariffs are the small businesses in the US. An analysis by the US Chambers of Commerce on August 7 found that “Tariffs are having a real and devastating impact on thousands of small businesses across the nation as uncertainty, rising costs, and cancellations are hitting home.”When is this tariff chaos likely to end?Two events may force a change to this situation.One, the economic costs to US consumers and businesses grow so high that Trump is forced to reconsider.By the end of August, new retail inflation data may start to tip the scales against Trump. Each passing week and month in the lead-up to the holiday season will add to the pressure.Story continues below this adAlso Read | H-1B visa changes: Why Trump aides want to change H-1B visa programTwo, Trump may be forced to course-correct by a possible political backlash in the midterm elections.All 435 seats of the US House of Representatives and 35 seats of the US Senate will go to polls in November 2026. If the voters have had enough of his policies, Republican candidates may face difficulties. If that happens, and the composition of Congress changes, Trump may end up being a lame duck President, as both parties get busy choosing their next leader for the 2028 presidential election.