Introduction As the dust settles on the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, one conclusion has crystallised across boardrooms, policy chambers, and trading floors: trade is no longer an economic endeavour. It has become a matter of sovereign survival. The stakes could not have been clearer. In mid-January, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs ranging from 10 percent escalating to 25 percent on eight European nations, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Uni