President Trump’s liberation day will be remembered for one man’s attempt to end the era of globalisation by reversing the post-war free trade system.

Trump has long been dreaming of the day when he could hit back at nations for “ripping off” America, which is his interpretation of foreign businesses beating US rivals to supply US consumers with products they want to buy.

The long-term impact of Trump’s tariff schedule is simply impossible to know for sure, because at the moment it is unclear how rigid he will be about giving up his 10 per cent baseline tariff on almost all imports. Nor is it clear what countermeasures trading partners will take and whether this will plunge the world into a spiralling trade war.

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