Last year dozens of countries proposed or introduced new tariffs on steel imports. Most aimed the measures at China, which they accused of flooding international markets with cheap metal. On February 9th Donald Trump took a different approach: he picked up a scattergun instead of a sniper’s rifle. As the president flew to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, he told reporters on Air Force One that he would announce new tariffs of 25% on all aluminum and steel imports into America. On February 10th the levies duly arrived.

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