Good morning. Two hours ago, as Donald Trump’s tariffs went into effect, China announced its response: tariffs of its own on key US imports, export controls on critical minerals, and an investigation into Google over allegations of breaking anti-monopoly laws. Yesterday, tariffs against Canada and Mexico were suspended at the last minute – but the trade war has started, and as the news from Beijing makes clear, they tend to be much harder to stop.
Meanwhile, the EU is bracing itself for similar measures, and the UK is breathing a sigh of relief that it appears to have been excluded, for now. Even some of Trump’s supporters are nervous: the Wall Street Journal editorial column, usually a staunch supporter of the president, branded all this “the dumbest trade war in history”.
