Given the country’s wealth and status, standards in the clothing industry of Sri Lanka are pretty high. It is widely recognised, not least by Victoria’s Secret and other western brands that source there, that its factories are environmentally sensitive and relatively respectful of labour rights. Those standards helped Sri Lanka qualify for special trade access to the European Union four years ago, and have continued to improve.

Yet this week the European Commission threatened to suspend those trade privileges, a decision likely to throw thousands of Sri Lankan employees out of work. Confused? The episode risks becoming another triumph for the illogicality of using trade deals to achieve non-trade ends.