When Trump returned to office, tariffs in hand and rhetoric blazing, the world braced itself. But instead of unveiling a shrewd economic strategy, Trump revealed, once again, that he is not the 4D chess master he thinks he is. He has, in fact, come unarmed - without a chessboard and without a plan.

His decision to slap tariffs on imported goods, including 25% on steel and aluminium, 10% on goods from the UK and 145% on Chinese imports, has thrown a proverbial spanner into the machinery of international trade. What we’re witnessing is not an economic doctrine but a dangerous gamble. The impact has been seismic, sending global markets into a tumble and posing immediate risks to Scottish manufacturing and export industries such as whisky.

Far from forging a new economic frontier, Trump is reorganising the chessboard mid-game, tipping the table in the process.

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Tariffs aren’t always a bad thing – they can help protect domestic industry, allowing it to develop and improve. Indeed, Britain maintained high tariffs until the 19th Century, while the US had some of the highest tariffs on manufacturing right up until the end of World War II. More recently Japan, South Korea and China have used tariffs to become world leaders in manufacturing.

But, at best, tariffs are only one piece of a chess set. They need to be coupled with public investment and regulation if they are to form a coherent industrial strategy. Trump isn’t doing this. He isn’t using tariffs to boost the living standards of the American working class, but to rebalance the US tax system, cut income taxes for the rich and isolate China.

Steel, one of the cornerstones of industrial power, has become symbolic of this chaos. Trump's........

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