Wall Street Journal describes Trump's tariffs as 'dumbest trade war in history'

US business leaders have given a mixed reaction to steep trade tariffs that Donald Trump's administration has imposed on Canada, Mexico and China, as the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal called it "the dumbest trade war in history".

- Edward Helmore

Trump said on his own Truth Social social media platform that he had used emergency powers to issue the tariffs, due to come into effect tomorrow, "because of the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our Citizens, including fentanyl".

The Journal said the moves "remind us of the old Bernard Lewis joke that it's risky to be America's enemy but it can be fatal to be its friend", adding that with the exception of China "Mr Trump's justification for this economic assault on the neighbors makes no sense".

It added: "Drugs may be an excuse since Mr Trump has made clear he likes tariffs for their own sake", pointing to Trump's comments on Thursday that the US does not need oil or lumber from its neighbours.

"Mr Trump sometimes sounds as if the US shouldn't import anything at all, that America can be a perfectly closed economy making everything at home," the editorial continued.

"This is called autarky, and it isn't the world we live in, or one that we should want to live in, as Mr Trump may soon find out."