The United States is abandoning the economic system that made it rich and powerful, gambling that it can become more prosperous waging a global trade war.

Temptation is to retaliate with trade barriers, but most agree nations should focus on targeted trade pacts and strengthening cooperation

For Mr Trump the measures represent an attempt to bring a long era of increasingly free global trade to a definitive end. Such openness has, he argued, allowed other countries to “rip off” America. “For years,