Britain is less vulnerable to US tariffs than other nations, but shares a historic responsibility. A recession would mean dark days for everyone

Can a country ever be too big to fail? Waiting for global stock markets to open this morning felt grimly reminiscent of the beginnings of the sub-prime lending crash, the moment many finally understood the old cliche that when the US sneezes, everyone catches a cold. But when it threatens to hack its nose off with a chainsaw, before changing its mind at 10 minutes to midnight, then nobody knows where they stand.

The world’s biggest economy is now experiencing what looks like its very own Liz Truss moment, only this time in a country powerful enough to take everyone else down with it. If the US really is prepared to keep playing this mad game of chicken – threatening ruinous tariffs against Mexico then postponing them, sowing fear and discord constantly among its allies – that risks creating the kind of all-American supernova that sucks everyone into a black hole.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

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