The latest salvo of trade measures from Washington reveals a strategy that is less about correcting trade deficits and more about reshaping the geography of global production. By announcing a 100 per cent import duty on branded and patented drugs, alongside steep levies on heavy trucks and household furnishings, the United States is making a calculated bid to pull capital and capacity back to its own soil.

Companies that already manufacture in America, or pledge to build factories there, are spared the harshest penalties. Everyone else must choose between investing in the US or surrendering a critical market. This is not a mere skirmish over prices. Pharmaceutical products are among the most research-intensive and globally interlinked goods in the world. Their supply chains depend on a de

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