A Western trade alliance against the world’s two most-populous nations is a silly idea. As a mechanism to discipline a third country, it’s dangerous. China has gone past the point in its development where it could be threatened with sanctions without tanking the global economy. Those directed at India could be a huge strategic misstep. The White House says it wants to smash Vladimir Putin’s war machine in Ukraine by imposing tariffs of as much as 100% on China and India, the two biggest buyers of Russian energy, provided its friends in the European Union and the Group of Seven come on board.