Brass taxes How tariffs could play out around the world

Proponents of tariffs argue that when they are used effectively, they can give an advantage to locally sourced alternatives by making imports prohibitively expensive.

- By Archie Bland

But economists tend to view taxes imposed on goods moving across national borders as a blunt instrument - which certainly hurt the target country, but also do damage to the host economy and risk sparking a trade war that can magnify the consequences.

China | Counterattack ranging from pick-up trucks to search engines

Trump threatened a 60% tariff on Chinese goods during the election campaign; the actual figure, 10%, was much lower, but when added to existing measures brings the average tariff on Chinese goods to between 20% and 30%. Trump claimed his intention was to force Beijing to do more to stop fentanyl, a dangerous opioid, and its precursors from being smuggled into the US - but most observers see a wider agenda in play.

About 14% of Chinese exports are destined for the US. And last year many Chinese companies started moving their supply chains overseas to get around existing tariffs.