The president’s protectionist policies, ripe with potential global repercussions, show how exposed Washington feels to China’s growing power

The opening shots have been fired in a trade war. Multilateralism is on its last legs. Globalisation is being rolled back. It is less than a month since Donald Trump arrived back in the White House and he is a man in a hurry.

Since being sworn in as president, Trump has been busily reshaping the world order. His decision to use tariffs to reduce the US trade deficit has grabbed most of the headlines, but is only half the story. He has pulled out of the World Health Organization and has gutted the US aid department. There is talk in Washington that he might even withdraw the US from the World Bank – a body the US helped to create at the end of the second world war.

Larry Elliott is a Guardian columnist