Donald Trump’s second presidency began with a blaze of executive orders which horrified and impressed in equal measure. It also begged the question: if it really were so easy for a president to circumvent the legal obstacles and assert his will, how come none had behaved in this way before?

A year on, we are learning the truth: no, a president can’t just do what he likes, and there is a horrible price to pay if he tries. In the case of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs the notional bill is $166 billion. That is the sum that US Customs believes it will have to refund to importers who paid tariffs which were ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court in February. A........

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