Beyond the tariff truce: Where can investors find lasting protection?

Mumbai: Asia's financial markets were rattled earlier this month after the US announced sweeping tariffs, imposing a blanket 10% duty on all imports and targeting key economies like India, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Thailand with steeper levies. China retaliated swiftly, slapping duties as high as 125% on US goods, escalating tensions into a full-blown trade war. In India, the Nifty 50 plunged over 5% in four days post tariff announcement, while the India Volatility Index (VIX) shot up 65.7% to 22.8 on 7 April —its sharpest single-day spike since 2007. Though US President Donald Trump partially rolled back tariffs on…